Six new witnesses were called by the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Among those were Trump allies Lara Cox, Douglas Mastriano, Michael Roman and Gary Michael Brown.
The Select Committee demands info on efforts to send false "alternate electors" and otherwise interfere with election certification.\n\nThe Select Committee issued 6 subpoenas:\n\u2022Michael A. Roman\n\u2022Gary Michael Brown\n\u2022Douglas V. Mastriano\n\u2022Laura Cox\n\u2022Mark W. Finchem\n\u2022Kelli Ward
— January 6th Committee (@January 6th Committee)
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Cox was a witness of note because, as the committee explained, she engaged with Rudy Giuliani in the Michigan efforts to recruit phony "alternate" electors.
Others called are Arizona Republican Rep. Mark W. Finchem and former Arizona Republican Sen. Kelli Ward, both of whom were part of the partisan "audit" of the Arizona vote, which ultimately found that Joe Biden won the presidency by even more votes than the official tally.
"In the days after the Associated Press and Fox News declared that now-President Biden had won the presidential election in Arizona, you reportedly sent text messages to an Arizona election official in which you said, 'We need you to stop the counting,' asked the official to contact a lawyer representing the Trump campaign, and said, 'I know you don't want to be remembered as the guy who led the charge to certify a fraudulent election,'" the documents say.
Ward now serves as the Republican Party chair in Arizona.
NEW: Jan. 6 panel issues six new subpoenas tied to the fake electors scheme, including AZ GOP Chair Kelli Ward and PA GOP gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano. \n\nPanel also up to more than 550 witnesses. \n\nThe full list of new subpoena targets and their roles via the panel:pic.twitter.com/01X04LsMc4
The Jan. 6 Committee subpoenas six more individuals, including Kelli Ward: \n\n-Michael A. Roman\n-Gary Michael Brown\n-Douglas V. Mastriano\n-Laura Cox\n-Mark W. Finchem\n-Kelli Wardpic.twitter.com/gAn36A2nSQ
The Kansas man arrested for allegedly threatening to assassinate President Joe Biden suffers from PTSD after accidentally killing a young child during a firefight in Afghanistan.
"Scott Ryan Merryman, 37, was arrested last month after claiming he had been instructed by God to 'lop off the head of the serpent in the heart of the nation,' which allegedly meant murdering Biden by delivering a 'fatal head wound,' states a criminal complaint filed Jan. 28 in Baltimore federal court," The Daily Beast reported. "Merryman had a 'decorated' five-year stint in Army Airborne, enlisting in 2005 at the age of 20, his court-appointed lawyers said in a letter sent Monday to Chief Judge James K. Breder of the federal district court in Baltimore."
Merryman spent 15 months in Afghanistan and eventually became addicted to oxycodone.
While in the VA's Psychiatry & Addiction Recovery Treatment program, Scott "worked to process his war trauma, including a chaotic firefight in which his partner was [killed] and Scott inadvertently killed a young child who had been standing next to a Taliban fighter shooting an AK-47 at the troops."
The legal document notes multiple suicide attempts and his PTSD.
As right-wing militants and other Donald Trump supporters battled law enforcement at the U.S. Capitol, one of the alleged organizers wondered why the former president stood idly by.
Oath Keepers co-founder Stewart Rhodes, who's charged with seditious conspiracy in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack, confirmed new court filing that members of the militia group expected Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act to put down the violence and possibly prevent the certification of Joe Biden's election win -- but he was frustrated that the order never came, reported The Philadelphia Inquirer.
“All I see Trump doing is complaining," Rhodes allegedly texted to other militia members. "I see no attempt by him to do anything. So the patriots are taking it in their own hands. They’ve had enough.”
Witnesses have said that Trump watched the violence play out on television at the White House, where he was reportedly confused that aides didn't share his enthusiasm, but House investigators want to know what else he was doing as his supporters stormed the Capitol.
"Of course, the Rhodes filing is just the latest in a string of bombshells about Trump and his close allies conspiring to tamper with the election results — as in the infamous phone call to Georgia officials seeking to 'find' 11,780 votes there — and muck with the proceedings of Congress on January 6, and then to hide key documents and destroy records about what was going on," wrote Inquirer columnist Will Bunch.
"Indeed, the growing pile of evidence of a criminal conspiracy against the most critical workings of American democracy continues to raise the biggest unanswered question of all: What on earth is Attorney General Merrick Garland doing?" he added.
IN OTHER NEWS: Trump-loving pastor threatens to expose six 'witches' he claims have infiltrated his congregation
Trump-loving pastor threatens to expose six 'witches' he claims have infiltrated his congregation
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One of the biggest lawsuits by Trump supporters seeking to overturn the 2020 election may have only occurred to distract from a local political scandal in Texas, a Republican congressman believes.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed suit following the 2020 election to overturn the results in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. The Supreme Courtruled, "Texas has not demonstrated a judicially cognizable interest in the manner in which another State conducts its elections."
"The Supreme Court really let us down. No Wisdom, No Courage!" Trump tweeted on Dec. 12.
Michael Hardy of Texas Monthly asked Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX), who is challenging Paxton to be the Texas GOP nominee for attorney general, about the lawsuit.
Hardy wrote, "the congressman said he agreed with its premise, but that Paxton shouldn’t have been the one to file it, since some of the pandemic-related election changes it cited (in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, which all went for Joe Biden) had also been made in Texas, including expanding the early voting period and access to mail-in ballots. 'Under the informal ‘clean hands’ doctrine, you can’t sue somebody for doing what you did,' Gohmert told me. 'But Paxton needed to change the narrative about his indiscretions [an apparent reference to Paxton’s alleged marital infidelity] and potential wrongdoing.'"
Details of the alleged affair were covered by The Dallas Morning News in 2020.
"The real estate developer linked to claims of corruption against Ken Paxton hired a woman who allegedly had an extramarital affair with the attorney general, The Dallas Morning News has learned. Nate Paul, an Austin-based businessman and campaign donor, said he believed Paxton recommended the woman for a job at his firm, according to a deposition The News obtained Wednesday," the newspaper reported. "Their relationship is under scrutiny after seven top staffers in the attorney general’s office reported Paxton to law enforcement and accused him of serious crimes — bribery, abuse of office and improper influence. They said that Paul has repeatedly tried to use the state agency for personal gain, and that Paxton let him."
IN OTHER NEWS: Trump-loving pastor threatens to expose six 'witches' he claims have infiltrated his congregation
Trump-loving pastor threatens to expose six 'witches' he claims have infiltrated his congregation
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The Republican National Committee drew intense criticism for describing the congressional panel investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection as an attack on “legitimate political discourse," but its chairwoman insists the term was describing a specific aspect of Donald Trump's attempt to remain in power.
RNC chair Ronna McDaniel claims the legitimate discourse referred to efforts by GOP activists who agreed to serve as electors for Trump and signed false documents claiming he had won at least five states that Joe Biden had, in fact, gotten more votes, and which has fallen under investigation by the House select committee, reported Politico.
The statement, which came in an RNC censure of select committee members Liz Cheney (R-WY) and Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), seems designed to benefit longtime McDaniel ally and RNC member Kathy Berden, who oversaw a Dec. 14, 2020 meeting of illegitimate Trump electors in Michigan after the state had certified Biden's win.
She also signed documents stating that Trump had won her state that were then delivered to Congress, the National Archives and a federal judge, and McDaniel has taken a particular interest in her recently widowed associate's case.
“Now she could face costly legal bills even though she was nowhere near the Capitol on January 6th and had nothing to do with the violence that occurred," McDaniel said last week in an op-ed.
Berden was among 14 false electors, who McDaniel described as "ordinary citizens," who were subpoenaed by the select committee as part of their investigation into the events leading up to Jan. 6.
PHILADELPHIA — U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb spent weeks calling members of Pennsylvania's Democratic State Committee angling for the party's endorsement of his Senate campaign. He's befriended politically powerful unions, party activists and insiders. And a group of Democrats from inside and outside the state are trying to raise $8 million for a super PAC to boost his campaign. Lt. Gov. John Fetterman avoids the traditional politicking — and some of the key rooms — that come with running for office. Very few elected Democrats are backing him for Senate. His campaign dismisses all that as an outdated p...
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky attends a joint press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, following their meeting at St. Mary's Palace. Kay Nietfeld/dpa
Amid US warnings of a possible imminent invasion of his country by Russian troops, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has declared February 16 a day of unity by decree.
The US government recently warned that it considered a Russian invasion possible before the end of the Winter Olympics in China on February 20. According to media reports, US intelligence information mentioned February 16 as a possible date for Russian military action.
"We are told that February 16 will be the day of the invasion, we will make it the day of unity," Zelensky said in a video on Monday evening.
Ukrainians are expected to raise flags across the country and sing the anthem at 10 am (0800 GMT). "Let's show the whole world our unity," the 44-year-old leader said.
In his speech, Zelensky again rejected Russian accusations that Ukraine was making preparations for an offensive against the breakaway territories of Luhansk and Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, collectively known as Donbas.
"The Donbas and Crimea will return to Ukraine exclusively through diplomatic channels," the president stressed. Russia had annexed the Crimean peninsula on the Black Sea in 2014 and subsequently also supported the pro-Moscow separatists in eastern Ukraine.
The speech came as the US announced that it was moving its embassy operations from the capital Kiev to the city of Lviv near the border with Poland.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called it a temporary precautionary measure.
"The embassy will remain engaged with the Ukrainian government, coordinating diplomatic engagement in Ukraine," he said.
"We are also continuing our intensive diplomatic efforts to deescalate the crisis," he added. "Our commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity is unwavering."
Zelensky had earlier criticized the recent relocation of some embassy staff during a press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Kiev: "It is a big mistake that some embassies are moving to Western Ukraine, because there is no Western Ukraine, there is Ukraine."
"If, God forbid, something happens, it will be everywhere," Zelensky said.
Large-scale Russian military exercises were being held off the southern coast of Ukraine on Monday, with aircraft, helicopters and more than 30 warships gathering in the Black Sea.
Russia says the training is aimed at locating and destroying submarines. Ukraine calls the drills, which are expected to last through Saturday, a provocation that will severely impede navigation in the Black Sea and the adjacent Sea of Azov.
The Kremlin has rejected accusations that merchant ships would be impacted by the manoeuvres and said they pose no security threat. Nevertheless, Ukraine has advised airlines to avoid airspace over the area.
The naval exercises are overlapping with large-scale military drills under way between Russia and and its close ally Belarus, which shares a border with Ukraine.
The US says there are 130,000 troops amassed on Russian territory near the border, meaning Russian forces are built up on three sides of Ukraine.
The US and its NATO allies charge that Russia is preparing a renewed attack on Ukraine, following the 2014 annexation of the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, an accusation that Russia rejects and calls "scaremongering."
Top US officials said in recent days that intelligence suggests Russia could be planning to invade Ukraine "at any time," including before February 20.
Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko said on Monday that the decision to stage the joint exercises with Russia was made before the current "hysteria" had broken out.
On the question of when Russian troops would leave Belarus again, he said: "We will decide that with Vladimir Putin."
The West fears that troops will not leave Belarus once the 10-day drills, which started late last week, conclude.
According to the Kremlin, Putin is scheduled to talk to Lukashenko sometime this week. Previously, the Kremlin had made statements that Russian troops would be withdrawn.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has advised President Vladimir Putin to continue negotiations with NATO on security guarantees.
"There is always a chance," Lavrov said he told Putin. But they can not drag on indefinitely, he said.
Blinken stressed in comments to France24 Monday that "the path to diplomacy remains open."
"We're doing everything we possibly can to convince Russia that it should take the diplomatic path, the path of dialogue to resolve whatever differences exist peacefully," he said.
Finance ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) nations said on Monday they are prepared to impose "massive" economic sanctions on Russia should it attack Ukraine.
Western leaders have been scrambling to defuse the crisis but their conversations with Putin - including US President Joe Biden's on Saturday - have failed to make progress.
In a show of deterrence and solidarity, NATO allies have been sending more forces and equipment into Eastern Europe and putting other troops on standby.
The first German troops have arrived in Lithuania to reinforce the Bundeswehr-led NATO battalion there.
Lithuania borders the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad and Russia's ally Belarus.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said Monday he was "deeply worried" about the situation while urging diplomatic efforts to be intensified and offering the UN's support.
He said he had spoken with the foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine on Monday morning and reiterated to them that there is no alternative to diplomacy.
"The price in human suffering, destruction and damage to European and global security is too high to contemplate. We simply cannot accept even the possibility of such a disastrous confrontation," he said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) meets with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. -/Kremlin/dpa
On Monday, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) raised eyebrows after appearing to tell CNN congressional correspondent Manu Raju that he would oppose any effort to fill a hypothetical second Supreme Court vacancy if it were to emerge immediately before the 2022 midterm election — citing his opposition to filling the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's seat with mere weeks to go before the 2020 election.
"I'm not going to be hypocritical on that," he said.
The remark caused anger from some commenters on social media, who noted that Manchin himself voted to confirm Justice Brett Kavanaugh with a month to go before the 2018 midterm elections, despite multiple allegations against him of sexual misconduct — although the actual vacancy opened up several months beforehand.
Manchin told me he\u2019d oppose filling a SCOTUS vacancy if one were to arise shortly before \u201822 election. Said he\u2019d be opposed if it happened on similar time frame as when RBG died, and then ACB was confirmed about a week before election \n\n"I'm not going to be hypocritical on that.\u201d
Less than an hour later, however, the West Virginia Democrat appeared to backtrack from his comment, telling Raju that he "misspoke" and only meant a vacancy opening up immediately before a presidential election, not a midterm election — although, Raju noted, the question posed to Manchin had been about midterm elections.
Manchin later he says he \u201cmisspoke\u201d and was referring to a confirmation vote right before (a week or two) a presidential election. Not midterm election. Initial question was about midterm election
None of these hypotheticals apply to the current vacancy created by the retiring Justice Stephen Breyer, which, according to Manchin, Democrats are handling appropriately.
President Joe Biden has pledged to nominate the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court. Top candidates reportedly include D.C. Appellate Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger, and South Carolina District Judge J. Michelle Childs.
IN OTHER NEWS: Shots fired at Louisville Democrat in 'assassination attempt'
Former President Donald Trump is now airing his personal and political grievances in Arizona, as the ex-president attacked outgoing Gov. Doug Ducey (R-AZ) for refusing to interfere to overturn the results of the 2020 election in his state.
In a statement Monday, Trump ranted that Ducey is a RINO (Republican In Name Only), but he also linked Ducey to his ongoing feud with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
"MAGA will never accept RINO Governor Doug Ducey of Arizona running for the U.S. Senate — So save your time, money and energy, Mitch!" Trump said in the comment.
There's just one problem: Ducey isn't running for the U.S. Senate. In fact, he's repeatedly said that he doesn't intend to run for the Senate. Former President George W. Bush has been part of the campaign to press Ducey to run for the seat given the slate of leading candidates are hardcore Trump enthusiasts who may make the seat harder to win.
One candidate, Jim Lamon, is running an ad where he fantasizes about shooting a gun at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and President Joe Biden.
Despite this, the efforts to recruit Ducey have thus far proved to be unsuccessful.
See the statement below:
I\u2019ve been watching this for weeks praying it happens. Announcement one way or the other expected any day. If Ducey gets in, it will complete the self-destruction of the AZ GOP. The conflict and division this will cause will be a gift to Mark Kelly.pic.twitter.com/C0vV4Ysr1Y
Arizona's Republican attorney general — who is seeking Donald Trump's support as he runs for U.S. Senate — has reportedly sat on an investigation into fake Trump electors for over one year.
On Monday, the Arizona Republic reported that the fake supporters have found themselves in potential legal liability after illegally using the official state seal on their phony documents.
The newspaper noted that is "something that can't happen without express permission from the Arizona secretary of state. The group, which called themselves 'the Sovereign Citizens of the State of Arizona,' never sought that permission, Secretary of State Katie Hobbs' office said."
Hobbs referred the misuse to Attorney General Mark Brnovich 14 months ago, but "nothing has happened" and Hobbs' office claims to have never received a response to its referral.
"The Arizona Republic reached out to members of that slate of false electors — not to be confused with another slate of fake electors that included state Republican Party Chairwoman Kelli Ward — but received no response. It is unclear why the group felt entitled to use the seal," the newspaper reported. "Hobbs' referral to Brnovich came after her office received copies of the false electors' documents via mail, as well as copies sent by the National Archives and Records Administration. The documents, printed on letterhead that contained the state seal, were presented as the certificate of ascertainment for Arizona's presidential electors. The 11 individuals falsely portrayed themselves as the proper electors, casting their electoral votes for Donald Trump and Mike Pence, while ignoring the fact that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris had carried the state."
Reacting to a report from the Associated Press that one of the investors in a group that is "bailing" Donald Trump out of his money-losing International Hotel in Washington, D.C. is an athlete the former president used to regularly disparage, one of the former president's biographers ridiculed him for choosing money over principle.
The AP is reporting that former New York Yankee and Texas Ranger Alex Rodriguez -- popularly known as A-Rod -- is part of the consortium buying the troubled hotel that was briefly a hub for the former president's admirers before he lost re-election.
According to a report from Forbes, Trump International has "been struggling to make money for years. Operating profits (measured as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) for the 12 months ending Aug. 31, 2017, appeared to be negative $4.3 million, according to an analysis of the financial documents released by the House Committee on Oversight and Reform. The next year, things improved, but the Trumps still only squeezed out $900,000 of operating profits on $52.3 million in revenue, and they lost money after paying interest on their debt," before adding, "In the year that ended Aug. 31, 2020, the hotel produced an operating loss of $8.6 million. There are a lot of ways to lose money every year that don't require investing $370 million upfront."
Monday's AP report notes that A-Rod is a general partner in Miami-based CGI Merchant Group, which is paying for the rights "to lease the 263-room property near the White House."
According to AP, "A-Rod’s involvement in the $375 million deal, which could close within weeks, would make the athlete-turned-entrepreneur an unlikely financial savior for Trump, allowing him to recoup millions he invested and perhaps even emerge with a profit from his money-losing hotel."
Asked about the deal, Trump biographer Michael D’Antonio began by telling AP, "This is just more proof that the only thing that matters to Trump is money."
Needling Trump further, the author continued, "If A-Rod can bail out Trump and get him out of a sticky situation and help him turn a profit, he’s going to take that deal. He’d take it from Hillary Clinton.”
The report adds, Trump "tweeted about A-Rod dozens of times, mostly in a span from 2011 to 2013 prior to Major League Baseball suspending Rodriguez for the entire 2014 season for use and possession of prohibited performance-enhancing substances, including testosterone and human growth hormone, and attempting to obstruct MLB’s investigation."
“The @Yankees should immediately stop paying A-Rod — he signed his contract without telling them he was a druggie,” Trump tweeted on Opening Day 2013, later writing, "Druggie A-Rod has disgraced the blessed @Yankees organization, lied to the fans & embarrassed NYC. He does not deserve to wear the pinstripes."
The report adds that Trump's feud with Rodriguez cooled off later, but that the former perennial All-Star appeared with his then-fiancee Jennifer Lopez "in an online campaign ad for Joe Biden just weeks before the 2020 presidential election, urging Hispanic voters to turn out for the Democrat."
The father of a teenager killed in a mass shooting at a Florida high school four years ago climbed a giant crane near the White House on Monday to urge President Joe Biden to take action against gun violence.
Joaquin Oliver, 17, was one of 17 people who died when a former student opened fire with a semi-automatic weapon at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on February 14, 2018.
His father, Manuel, scaled a giant crane at a construction site near the White House in downtown Washington early on Monday and unveiled a banner with a picture of his slain son.
"45K People Died From Gun Violence on Your Watch," the banner said.
He was arrested by police when he climbed down.
Standing at the foot of the crane, Joaquin's mother, Patricia, told AFP her pain is "everywhere."
"That makes you feel that you've got to do something because there's more situations happening due to gun violence," she said.
"We're showing that to the president because we need the president to take action," she said. "We need more action that works."
In December, the couple spent three weeks outside the White House demanding a meeting with Biden. They finally met with an aide but "since that conversation, nothing happened," Patricia Oliver said.
She said Monday's protest coincided with the launch of a campaign called "Shock Market" which is "about showing in real time how many people die in America due to gun violence."
On its website, Shock Market said "President Biden has fallen far short of the gun violence reform he promised during his campaign."
In a statement on Monday, Biden marked the anniversary of the Parkland shooting and said his administration "stands with those working to end this epidemic of gun violence."
"It was the deadliest high school shooting in a nation with far too many of them, and it left another community -- and our country -- shattered by grief," Biden said.
"On this difficult day, we mourn with the Parkland families whose lives were upended in an instant," he said. "We pray too for those still grappling with wounds both visible and invisible."
The Parkland shooting spawned a student-led protest movement for gun control but advocates of tougher gun laws have been unable to get any meaningful measures through Congress.
In his statement, Biden said "Congress must do much more -- beginning with requiring background checks on all gun sales, banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and eliminating immunity for gun manufacturers."
Russia held open the door Monday to further talks on resolving its standoff with the West and said some of its military drills were ending, signaling a possible easing of the crisis over Ukraine.
The comments came as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, visiting Kyiv, vowed that Berlin and Western allies would maintain support for Ukraine's security and independence, urging Russia to take up "offers of dialogue".
During a televised meeting with President Vladimir Putin, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said "there is always a chance" to reach an agreement with the West over Ukraine.
He told Putin that initial exchanges with leaders in European capitals and Washington showed enough of an opening for progress on Russia's ambitions to be worth pursuing.
"I would suggest continuing," Lavrov said. "Fine," Putin replied.
Meanwhile, during a press conference in Kyiv with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Scholz told reporters there was "no reasonable justification" for Russia's build-up of troops around Ukraine's borders.
He also urged Moscow "to take up the existing offers of dialogue".
Ahead of the talks, Ukraine demanded an urgent meeting with Russia to explain why it has deployed more than 100,000 soldiers around its borders.
Over recent weeks, European leaders have warned that the build-up is the worst threat to the continent's security since the Cold War, with Putin demanding a rollback of Western influence in eastern Europe and a ban on Ukraine joining NATO.
'Digging trenches'
Western allies have prepared what they warn would be a crippling package of economic sanctions in response to any attack, the threat of which a German government source said was, "very critical, very dangerous."
Alarm has been fueled by recent Russian military exercises, including with Belarus, where the US said Moscow had dispatched 30,000 troops for more than a week of drills.
Russia's Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu told Putin that some of the drills taking place in Russia and waters around the country were "ending" and more would end "in the near future".
In Kyiv, Ukraine's Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov meanwhile hailed "positive" talks with his Belarusian counterpart. He said he had been assured "there are no threats to Ukraine from Belarus".
US intelligence officials worry that weeks of crisis talks have given Russia the time to prepare a major offensive should Putin decide to attack Ukraine.
On Sunday, Washington warned that Russia was ready to strike at "any moment".
Ukraine requested a formal meeting with Moscow earlier Monday and other members of the pan-European security body, the OSCE, that might explain "the reinforcement and movement of Russian forces along our border".
Near the frontline separating Kyiv-held territory from areas under the control of Moscow-backed insurgents in the separatist east, underprivileged children in the care of church groups were helping with war preparations.
"We are digging trenches that Ukrainian soldiers could quickly jump into and defend in case the Russians attack," 15-year-old Mykhailo Anopa told AFP.
Tough trip
Germany plays a central role in efforts to mediate in eastern Ukraine, where a grueling conflict with Russian-backed separatists has claimed more than 14,000 lives.
But Germany's close business relations with Moscow and heavy reliance on Russian natural gas imports have been a source of lingering concern for Kyiv's pro-Western leaders and US President Joe Biden's team.
Scholz has hedged against unequivocally backing Biden's pledge to "bring an end" to Russia's new Nord Stream 2 gas link to Germany -- a project that Zelensky described Monday as "a geopolitical weapon."
Zelensky repeated during the press conference Monday with Scholz that joining the NATO alliance would guarantee Ukraine's survival.
But Ukraine's membership is a sticking point in talks between Russia and the West, which has spurned a demand from Moscow that Kyiv never be admitted from the US-led military bloc.
"We understand that NATO membership would ensure our security and our territorial integrity," Zelensky said.
Scholz will visit Moscow on Tuesday after tit-for-tat closures of the German-language service of Russia's RT network and the Moscow bureau of Germany's Deutsche Welle.
Airline worries
A growing number of Western countries are withdrawing staff from their Kyiv embassies and urging their citizens to leave Ukraine immediately.
But departures may be complicated by the looming threat of the skies over Ukraine closing due to rising risks for airlines.
Dutch carrier KLM became the first major airline over the weekend to suspend flights to Kyiv indefinitely.
On Monday morning, ahead of the potential shutdown, Kiev's international airport was busy but there were no signs of panic despite long queues to depart.
Ukraine's budget airline SkyUp said European leasing companies were demanding that Ukrainian carriers return their planes to EU airspace within 48 hours.
Industry analysts believe other international airlines may soon also ban flights into Ukraine because of the growing cost to insurers.
Scott Ryan Merryman legal filing.Screengrab.
