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Russia Says It Advances Near Chasiv Yar in Eastern Ukraine 

A Ukrainian tank of the 17th Tank Brigade fires at Russian positions in Chasiv Yar, the site of fierce battles with the Russian troops in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. (AP)
A Ukrainian tank of the 17th Tank Brigade fires at Russian positions in Chasiv Yar, the site of fierce battles with the Russian troops in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. (AP)
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Russia Says It Advances Near Chasiv Yar in Eastern Ukraine 

A Ukrainian tank of the 17th Tank Brigade fires at Russian positions in Chasiv Yar, the site of fierce battles with the Russian troops in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. (AP)
A Ukrainian tank of the 17th Tank Brigade fires at Russian positions in Chasiv Yar, the site of fierce battles with the Russian troops in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. (AP)

Russia said on Sunday its forces had advanced towards the town of Chasiv Yar in eastern Ukraine and seized control of the settlement of Bohdanivka, as Kyiv said it urgently needed promised US support to fend off a full-scale offensive.

"Units of the Southern grouping group of forces have fully liberated the settlement of Bohdanivka ... and have improved the situation along the front line," Russia's defense ministry said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app.

Control of Bohdanivka, located just to the west of the Russian-held city of Bakhmut, has been in doubt for some time.

The village lies some 5 kilometers (3 miles) east of Chasiv Yar, a heavily fortified hilltop town and forward artillery base for the Ukrainian army, providing protection for some of the area's largest cities including Kramatorsk and Slaviansk.

The Russian report could not be independently verified and there was no comment from Ukraine regarding Bohdanivka.

The General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces, in its daily report, mentioned Bohdanivka as one of a series of villages where it said Ukrainian forces repelled 13 enemy attacks. But it gave no specific details.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his daily video address that he held talks on Sunday with army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi and Defence Minister Rustem Umerov about Chasiv Yar and other hot spots on the frontline.

In an interview with NBC's "Meet the Press", aired on Sunday, Zelenskiy urged Washington, where the US House of Representatives has approved a $60 billion in aid for Ukraine, to quickly turn the bill into law and proceed with the transfer of weapons ahead of an anticipated Russian offensive.

"We are preparing (for an offensive)," Zelenskiy said, reiterating Syrskyi's warning that Russia aims to capture the Chasiv Yar by May 9, one of Russia's largest public holidays and which marks Moscow's victory over Nazi forces in World War II.

"I hope we will be able to stay, and the weapons will come on time, and we will repel the enemy, and then we'll break the plans of the Russian Federation with regards to this full-scale offensive."

Ukraine says it expects Russia to launch a broad offensive in spring and summer after capturing the town of Avdiivka, east of Chasiv Yar, during the winter.

Ukraine's Defense Ministry denied last week that Russia had captured all of Bohdanivka, while acknowledging it had lost some positions in the village in eastern Donetsk region.

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Passenger Jet Collides with Helicopter While Landing at DC's Reagan National Airport

A helicopter assists with search and rescue operations over Capital Cove Marine in the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington Airport on January 30, 2025 in Arlington, Virginia. Early reports indicate a helicopter and airplane collided near Reagan National Airport. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/AFP
A helicopter assists with search and rescue operations over Capital Cove Marine in the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington Airport on January 30, 2025 in Arlington, Virginia. Early reports indicate a helicopter and airplane collided near Reagan National Airport. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/AFP
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Passenger Jet Collides with Helicopter While Landing at DC's Reagan National Airport

A helicopter assists with search and rescue operations over Capital Cove Marine in the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington Airport on January 30, 2025 in Arlington, Virginia. Early reports indicate a helicopter and airplane collided near Reagan National Airport. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/AFP
A helicopter assists with search and rescue operations over Capital Cove Marine in the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington Airport on January 30, 2025 in Arlington, Virginia. Early reports indicate a helicopter and airplane collided near Reagan National Airport. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/AFP

A jet with 60 passengers and four crew members aboard collided Wednesday with an Army helicopter while landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, prompting a large search-and-rescue operation in the nearby Potomac River.

There was no immediate word on casualties or the cause of the collision, but takeoffs and landings from the airport near Washington were halted as helicopters from law enforcement agencies across the region flew over the scene in search of survivors.

Here's the latest:

AP source: Multiple people killed in midair collision There were multiple fatalities after the midair collision, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. The person was not authorized to publicly discuss details of the investigation and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

Authorities are still conducting a search-and-rescue operation in an attempt to find survivors in the water and around the crash site.

-Mike Balsamo

Helicopter was on training flight The US Army said the helicopter that collided with a passenger jet was a UH-60 Blackhawk based at Fort Belvoir in Virginia. A crew of three soldiers were onboard the helicopter, an Army official said. The helicopter was on a training flight.

Military aircraft frequently conduct training flights in and around the congested and heavily-restricted airspace around the nation’s capital for familiarization and continuity of government planning.

‘There was a lot of sadness’ in terminal after passenger jet crash Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz was waiting to catch his flight back to Buffalo, New York, when he saw through the terminal window some emergency vehicles moving out below.

“It didn’t seem anything too strange at that point,” Poloncarz said. “And then about a minute or so after that, there was an announcement of a full-ground stop, that there would be no flights landing and no flights taking off. And then we started to see a lot of emergency vehicles heading towards the river.”

Poloncarz and others soon saw reports on social media of a plane crash, while rumors began to swirl.

“When flights get delayed, people get aggravated and upset. But there was no one getting aggravated or upset because I think we all realized pretty quickly the magnitude of what occurred. The terminal grew pretty quiet. There was a lot of sadness.”

Last fatal US commercial airline crash was in 2009 The last fatal crash involving a US commercial airline occurred in 2009 in New York, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.

Everyone aboard the Bombardier DHC-8 propeller plane was killed, including 45 passengers, 2 pilots and 2 flight attendants. Another person on the ground also died, bringing the total death toll to 50. An investigation determined that the captain accidentally caused the plane to stall as it approached the airport in Buffalo.

Audio shows no response from helicopter after air traffic control warning Less than 30 seconds before the crash, an air traffic controller asks the helicopter if it has the arriving plane in sight: “PAT25, do you have the CRJ in sight?”

The controller makes another radio call to PAT25 moments later: “PAT 25 pass behind the CRJ.”

The two aircraft collide seconds later.

The audio from flight tracking sites doesn’t record any response from the helicopter, if any, to the warnings from air traffic control.

The plane’s radio transponder stopped transmitting about 2,400 feet (730 meters) short of the runway, roughly over the middle of the river.