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The Pentagon overcounted the value of weapons and other military aid it sent to Ukraine by "at least $3 billion," Defense Department officials said Thursday.

Why it matters: The accounting error may lead to "more weapons being sent to Kyiv for its defense against Russian forces," per Reuters, which first reported the news. The news comes as Ukrainian troops prepare to launch a major counteroffensive.

House Armed Services Committee Chair Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Michael McCaul (R-Texas) said in a joint statement Thursday: "These funds could have been used for extra supplies and weapons for the upcoming counteroffensive, instead of rationing funds to last for the remainder of the fiscal year."

Driving the news: "During our regular oversight process of presidential drawdown packages, the Department discovered inconsistencies in equipment valuation for Ukraine," said Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh in an emailed statement Thursday evening.

"In some cases, 'replacement cost' rather than 'net book value' was used, therefore overestimating the value of the equipment drawn down from U.S. stocks. This over-valuation has not constrained our support to Ukraine nor impacted our ability to flow capabilities to the battlefield."

What they're saying: Rogers and McCaul said the accounting error was discovered two months ago "and only today shared with Congress," which they said was "extremely problematic, to say the least."

Representatives for the Pentagon declined to comment on Rogers' and McCaul's statement.

What we're watching: It was not immediately clear which weapons had been mistakenly overestimated.

Defense Department officials were still trying to determine the total over-valuation.

By the numbers: The U.S. has in total "committed more than $30.4 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the beginning of the Biden Administration," per a Pentagon statement.

Pentagon says it over-estimated Ukraine military aid by $3 billion

The error may lead to more weapons being sent to Ukraine as Ukrainian troops prepare to launch a major counteroffensive.

Ukrainian soldiers are seen during their shooting training at the front with US-made weapons in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine on March 04, 2023. 

Ukrainian soldiers training with U.S.-made weapons in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, in March. Photo: Mustafa Ciftci/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Ukraine

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A journalist working for French news agency Agence France-Presse was killed in Ukraine during a rocket strike near the eastern city of Bakhmut on Tuesday, AFP said.

The big picture: Arman Soldin, a 32-year-old Bosnian-French video coordinator, "is at least the 15th journalist to be killed while reporting on the war since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022," per nonprofit the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

Bakhmut is now mostly under Russian control and AFP noted in its announcement that the city has been "the epicenter of the fighting in eastern Ukraine for several months."

Details: Soldin was working with Ukrainian soldiers and other AFP journalists when he was "killed by rocket fire near Chasiv Yar near the Donetsk town's "outskirts close to Bakhmut" at about 4:30pm Tuesday, per a report from the news agency.

He died "when a rocket struck close to where he was lying," AFP added.

The CPJ in a statement that noted the rocket attack occurred in an area "regularly shelled by Russian forces" called on Russian and Ukrainian authorities "to thoroughly investigate the circumstances of Soldin’s death."

Of note: Soldin regularly reported from the frontlines in Ukraine after arriving soon after Putin's forces invaded the country.

Last week, he tweeted that he felt "pure terror" after being "caught under a rain" of rockets that exploded nearby as he reported on Ukrainian soldiers digging trenches near Bakhmut.

What they're saying: French President Emmanuel Macron praised Soldin on Tuesday for his "courage."

AFP chair Fabrice Fries in a statement Tuesday said Soldin's death was "a terrible reminder of the risks and dangers faced by journalists every day covering the conflict in Ukraine."

Editor's note: This article has been updated with comment from French President Emmanuel Macron, AFP chair Fabrice Fries and further context.

AFP journalist killed in rocket attack in Ukraine

He's "at least the 15th journalist to be killed while reporting" on Russia's war on Ukraine, journalism nonprofit CPJ says.

AFP journalist Arman Soldin snaps a selfie with a cat on his shoulder during an assignment for AFP in Ukraine. 

AFP journalist Arman Soldin snaps a selfie with a cat on his shoulder during an assignment for AFP in Ukraine. Photo: Arman Soldin/AFP via Getty Images

Russian invasion of Ukraine

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Axios World

Moscow and Kyiv are on high alert as a series of explosions on both sides of the border, including over the Kremlin, herald a new phase of the war.

The big picture: Tens of thousands of Ukrainian troops — equipped with new Western tanks, artillery and training — are preparing for a critical offensive.

Russia, meanwhile, is preparing for its annual showcase of military might in Moscow. Leaders in several Russian border regions have canceled their own Victory Day parades on Tuesday, though, apparently fearing cross-border strikes.

A series of attacks on the Russian side of the border and in occupied Crimea in recent days — including on a freight train and multiple fuel depots — appear to be part of an effort to damage Russian supply lines ahead of the counteroffensive.

Russia has also stepped up its attacks on cities across Ukraine after a month-long lull. At least 23 civilians were killed on Wednesday in attacks on the southern city of Kherson. A Ukrainian oil depot was also struck.

Those latest attacks came after there were two mysterious explosions very close to the Kremlin.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson Dmitri Peskov claims Ukraine attempted to assassinate Putin with drones, on orders from Washington.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denied any role. One of his top aides accused Russia of planting a false flag to justify "terrorist provocation" in the coming days.

National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said Peskov was "lying" about U.S. involvement, but that the White House didn’t know who was really responsible.

Analysts are divided as to whether a Ukrainian attack or a Russian ruse is more likely. Either way, the motive may have been to seize the narrative.

State of play: The battle lines have hardly shifted since last fall with the exception of a Russian offensive in southeastern Ukraine around the city of Bakhmut, which is now mostly but not entirely under Russian control.

The heavy casualties on both sides have been disproportionate to the city's limited strategic significance, and Russia has been unable to make further gains.

Some analysts speculate that the renewed intensity of Russian attacks around Bakhmut has been propelled by Putin's desire to take the city in time for Victory Day.

Data: The Institute for the Study of War with AEI’s Critical Threats Project; Map: Jared Whalen/Axios

Zoom out: Elsewhere, Russian troops have been fortifying their defensive lines in preparation for a major Ukrainian push.

Many of the troops fielded by both sides in the coming months will likely be seeing action for the first time in the war, Michael Kofman, a leading analyst of Russia's military at CNA, tells Axios.

Thousands of Ukrainian troops have received training outside of the country as Ukraine prepares to utilize “combined arms” tactics to break through the Russian lines using tanks, infantry and artillery.

“We've done everything we can to make sure that they're ready,” Kirby said Thursday, adding that Kyiv had received 98% of what it requested in terms of “armor, artillery, air defense, ammunition” and training.

What to watch: The offensive is unlikely to end the war, Kofman says. But it will test the thesis that with Western training, arms and intelligence, Ukraine can still reclaim significant amounts of territory.

Thus, it may dictate how willing Ukraine's Western backers are to provide such support in the longer term.

Russia and Ukraine fight to control narrative, territory as war enters new phase

What to make of the explosions over the Kremlin and on both sides of the border.

Rehearsals for Victory Day in Moscow. Photo: Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP via Getty

Russia

Russia on Thursday blamed the U.S. for an alleged drone attack on the Kremlin, a claim that National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby dismissed as "ludicrous." 

Driving the news: "We don’t even know exactly what happened here," Kirby said Thursday on CNN. "But I can assure you the United States had no role in it whatsoever."

Catch up quick: Russian on Wednesday first accused Ukraine of launching the purported attack on the Kremlin in an attempt to kill Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

Russian state news agency TASS reported that two drones attempted to attack Putin's residence in the Kremlin but were disabled by Russian forces — claims that U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken said should be taken with a "large shaker of salt."

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Thursday accused the U.S. of directing the alleged attack, per the Moscow Times.

“We know that often it isn’t even Kyiv that determines the targets, but Washington,” Peskov said. “It’s very important that Washington understands that we know this and understands how dangerous such direct involvement in the conflict is.”

Zoom in: There were no victims and no damage to the Kremlin's buildings, per TASS.

Peskov told state news agency RIA Novosti Wednesday that Putin was not in the Kremlin at the time because he had been working at another residence outside of Moscow.

What they're saying: Moscow said that it regarded the incident as "a planned terrorist act and an attempt on the life of the President of the Russian Federation, carried out on the eve of Victory Day, the May 9 Parade," per TASS.

"The Russian side reserves the right to take retaliatory measures where and when it sees fit," the Kremlin added, according to Russia's Interfax news agency.

Yes, but: Blinken said Wednesday at a Washington Post Live event that he was aware of the reports, but "can't in any way validate them." 

"I would take anything coming out of the Kremlin with a very large shaker of salt. We’ll see what the facts are," Blinken said.

"We leave it to Ukraine to decide how it's going to defend itself and how it’s going to try to get back the territory that’s been seized from it illegally by Russia over the past 14 months and going back to 2014," he added — referring to the annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.

The big picture: Ukraine denied responsibility for the alleged attack.

"We have no information about the so-called night attacks on the Kremlin," Sergei Nikiforov, a spokesperson for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, told Radio Liberty, the New York Times reported.

“Ukraine directs all available forces and means to liberate its own territories, and not to attack others," Nikiforov added.

Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Zelensky, tweeted that the drone attack accusation indicated that Russia itself is "preparing a large-scale terrorist attack."

Podolyak alluded to other drone attacks that have occurred in Russia in recent months, which he attributed to "guerilla activities of local resistance forces."

"Something is happening" inside Russia, he said, "but definitely without Ukraine's drones over the Kremlin."

Of note: Russia has accused Ukraine of a number of attacks on Russian soil since the start of the war. 

Ukraine has denied responsibility for, or not commented on, most of these incidents.

Editor's note: This story was updated with new information throughout.

Kirby calls Russian accusation that U.S. is behind attack on Kremlin "ludicrous"

Moscow first accused Ukraine of launching the attack, then blamed the U.S. a day later.

View of the Kremlin with Spasskaya Tower and St. Basil's Cathedral in downtown Moscow. 

A view of the Kremlin with Spasskaya Tower and St. Basil's Cathedral in downtown Moscow. Photo: Natalie Kolesnikova/AFP via Getty Images

Russian forces launched a barrage of missile strikes on cities across Ukraine Friday, killing at least 25 people, Ukrainian officials said.

Why it matters: This is Russia's largest wave of airstrikes in nearly two months, and its first missile attacks on Kyiv since early March. The barrage comes as Ukraine prepares for a much-awaited spring counter-offensive.

Driving the news: A strike on a residential building in the central city of Uman killed at least 23 people including four children, Ukraine's Ministry of Internal Affairs wrote in a Telegram post. 

In Dnipro, a 2-year-old girl and her mother were killed after a missile struck a house, regional governor Serhiy Lysak said.

Ukrainian forces successfully shot down 21 of the 23 cruise missiles launched by Russia as well as two drones, Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi, commander-in-chief of Ukraine's armed forces, wrote in a Telegram post.

Eleven missiles and two drones were shot down over the Kyiv region, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko wrote on Telegram.

The big picture: Ukraine's Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov told an online news briefing Friday that Ukrainian forces are "to a high percentage ready" to launch their counter-offensive, Reuters reported.

"As soon as there is God's will, the weather and a decision by commanders, we will do it," he added.

"This Russian terror must face a fair response from Ukraine and the world. And it will," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote in a Telegram post after the strikes. "Every such attack, every evil act against our country and people brings the terrorist state closer to failure and punishment."

Editor's note: This story was updated with new details.

Russian airstrikes kill at least 25 across Ukraine

Friday's barrage marked the first missile attacks on Kyiv since early March.

Rescuers conduct search and rescue operations in a destroyed residential building on April 28 in Uman, Ukraine. Photo: Yan Dobronosov/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday that he'd had a "long and meaningful call" with Chinese President Xi Jinping. 

Why it matters: It was the first known call between Xi and Zelensky since Russia invaded Ukraine. Xi has offered himself as a mediator in the conflict, but he made a lengthy state visit to Moscow and has offered diplomatic cover for the invasion.

Ukraine and its European backers had been encouraging Xi to make this call for months, partially in hopes he'll maintain his quasi-neutrality rather than moving to arm Russia.

What they're saying: Xi appealed for negotiations between Russia and Ukraine and plans to send an envoy to Kyiv to discuss that issue, according to Chinese state media, which also quoted the Chinese president as telling Zelensky, “there is no winner in a nuclear war.”

Zelensky tweeted that he believes "this call, as well as the appointment of Ukraine's ambassador to China, will give a powerful impetus to the development of our bilateral relations."

Zelensky and Xi speak in first call since Russia invasion of Ukraine

Zelensky said the call was "long and meaningful."

Zelensky holds a press conference. Photo: Yurii Stefanyak/Global Images Ukraine via Getty

China

Tel Aviv

Axios from Tel Aviv

The Israeli military is planning to test its civilian early warning system in Kyiv next month with the aim of making it operational by the summer, two Ukrainian and Israeli officials told Axios.

Why it matters: The civilian early warning system, which will connect to the Ukrainian military radar and air defense network, can send faster and more specific alerts to Ukrainian civilians in the areas that are targeted.

Catch up quick: Then-Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz in October 2022 said Israel is willing to assist Ukraine with a civilian early warning system.

Israel uses the same system itself. Once a threat is identified it sends a “Red Alert” message to mobile phones and activates air raid sirens.

Because the system is connected to the air defense and radar system, it can calculate where a rocket is going to hit and activate alerts only in this specific area. This gives civilians in the targeted areas more time to take cover while allowing civilians in other areas to continue their daily lives undisturbed.

Behind the scenes: In recent months, Israeli officers from the Home Front Command met several times in Poland with Ukrainian military officers and officials from Ukraine’s Ministry of Interior, Israeli and Ukrainian officials told Axios.

During the meetings, the Israelis presented the system and discussed how to reconfigure the software so that it would be compatible with Ukraine's needs, the officials said.

The big difference in the size of Ukraine and Israel and because different rockets and missiles are used by Russia to target Ukrainian cities means that the system will need adjustments, the officials concluded. 

What to watch: Israeli and Ukrainian officials said the decision was to start a “pilot” project in Kyiv and conduct a first test of the system in May.

If successful, the system will be operated in several other cities in Ukraine that are home to more than 1 million people.

The big picture: The current Israeli government, like the previous one, is not willing to supply Ukraine with lethal military assistance. 

The Israeli government is concerned that Russia could retaliate to any supply of lethal aid to Ukraine by limiting the Israeli air force's freedom of operation against Iranian targets in Syria.

Scoop: Israeli military to test civilian early warning system in Kyiv

The system can send faster and more specific alerts to Ukrainian civilians in the areas that are targeted.

Rescuers examine a destroyed apartment building after a rocket attack by Russia in Kyiv. 

Rescuers examine a destroyed apartment building after a rocket attack by Russia in Kyiv on Dec. 31, 2022. Photo: Aleksandr Gusev/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Israel

Seven Ukrainian MPs who serve on a commission that coordinates arms requests and deliveries with partner countries briefed reporters on Monday that the window for a Ukrainian counter-offensive is now opening, but Kyiv is still desperately short on much-needed supplies.

1. Ammunition, in particular 155mm artillery shells.

Oleksandra Ustinova, who led the delegation, said Ukraine is firing 6,000-8,000 shells per day, but receiving just 20,000 every two months.

Efforts to increase production are showing some progress, but if they don’t speed up “it’s going to be a huge problem.”

Ukraine has been receiving tanks, but not nearly enough for the new brigades it plans to field in the counter-offensive, one MP said. Ukraine is training new units specifically for the offensive.

4. Jets, in particular the U.S-made F-16.

Between the lines: The U.S. has promised tanks, though not until the fall. Washington isn’t providing jets or long-range missiles in part out of concern they could be used to strike Russian territory and thus spark further escalation.

National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby reiterated on Monday that F-16s are “not on the table right now,” but said the U.S. was providing the systems Ukraine was “most going to need in the weeks and months ahead.”

The Ukrainian MPs sharply disagreed with the idea that F-16s aren’t needed, particularly because of their value for air defense.

Worth noting: One MP confirmed that Ukraine is running low on S-300 missiles, as emerged in the Pentagon leaks, but said the Soviet-era system was no longer “the main air defense system for us.”

Still, Ukrainian forces are trying to limit their use of air defense interceptors, knowing the Russians were using drones as “fake targets” to exhaust their supply.

The weapons Ukraine wants

The coming counter-offensive could hinge on Western supplies.

Ukrainian soldiers fire artillery in Donetsk. Photo: Diego Herrera Carcedo/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

The FBI on Thursday arrested the person suspected of being behind the massive leak of highly classified Pentagon documents that revealed new details about the U.S.' allies and adversaries.

Why it matters: While officials are still assessing the validity of the documents, an interagency effort is being assembled to determine what impact the leak could have on U.S. national security.

Below, Axios answers key questions about what is known about the leak, what the documents contained and how other countries have reacted to the revelations.

The leaked documents have appeared on various social media sites over the last week, including Twitter and Telegram, according to the New York Times, which first reported the leak.

Some of the documents appeared on the platform Discord in early March while other documents, dating to January, appear to have been posted even earlier though it's not clear exactly when, according to Bellingcat.

The documents were then spread to the anonymous message board 4chan and pro-Russian Telegram channels, before making their way to Twitter and major media outlets, per Bellingcat.

The latest: Attorney General Merrick Garland confirmed Thursday that the. the suspect is Jack Teixeira, a 21-year-old member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard.

Teixeira was arrested in connection to “unauthorized removal, retention and transmission of classified national defense information,” Garland said, adding that the arrest occurred "without incident."

The FBI has been conducting interviews in recent days after narrowing down a list of suspects as part of a fast-moving investigation, CNN reported.

The FBI confirmed in a statement that the arrest took place at a residence in North Dighton, Massachusetts.

The arrest exemplifies "our continued commitment to identifying, pursuing, and holding accountable those who betray our country's trust and put our national security at risk," the FBI said.

Earlier Thursday, President Biden said the Justice Department was "getting close" to determining who was behind the leak.

The person behind the leak was a "young, charismatic gun enthusiast" who is known as "OG" in a private chat room on the social media platform Discord, the Washington Post reported Wednesday.

The leaker reportedly told the roughly two dozen chat group members that he worked on a military base where he spent part of his day inside a "secure facility that prohibited cellphones and other electronic devices."

One member said that the leaker claimed he spent hours annotating classified documents to share with the group, the Post reported.

The leaker was suspicious of law enforcement and the U.S. intelligence community and was prone to ranting about “government overreach," the Discord group member told the Post.

They claimed that roughly half of the chat group members lived abroad and that those who appeared most interested in the classified material were primarily from the “Eastern Bloc and those post-Soviet countries."

Catch up quick: Hundreds, if not thousands, of government and military officials have the necessary security clearances to access the documents, the New York Times reported.

The documents appeared online as photos of crumpled pieces of paper, laid on top of magazines and surrounded by household objects, suggesting they might have been hurriedly stuffed into a pocket and then photographed later, CNN reported.

The tranche of leaked documents numbers roughly 100 pages, though at least one appeared to have been altered from the original at a later time, per the Times.

The alterations overshot U.S. estimates for Ukrainian casualties in the war while underestimating Russian casualties, prompting Ukrainian officials and Russian bloggers to accuse the other side of an attempt at disinformation, per the Times.

The content of the documents varies, but includes U.S. assessments of the war in Ukraine dating to February and March, including territorial gains and ammunition shortages.

The documents illustrate U.S. efforts to spy on Ukraine's government and military leaders and lays out the U.S.' extensive knowledge of Russian government intelligence — a fact that could hurt U.S. spy efforts if Russia figures out where the information is coming from, the Times noted.

The documents also outline U.S. efforts to spy on its allies, Israel and South Korea.

Zoom in: One of the documents, a CIA update from March 1 sourced to signals intelligence, seemingly showed that leaders of Israel's intelligence agency encouraged Mossad officials and Israeli citizens to protest the government's proposed judicial reforms.

Another report based on signals intelligence describes South Korea's concern that artillery shells requested by the U.S. to replenish its stockpiles could end up in Ukraine, the New York Times reported.

One document slide suggested that a force of fewer than 100 special operations personnel from NATO members France, the U.S., the U.K. and Latvia was active in Ukraine, the Guardian reported.

Ukraine has questioned the validity of the documents, with Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky, claiming in a Telegram post that the leaks were an act of Russian disinformation.

"The purpose of 'leaks' of allegedly secret data is obvious. To divert attention from the actual preparations for the next stage of the war.... To sow certain doubts and mutual suspicions between partners," Podolyak wrote.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told CNN that Russia doesn't have "the slightest doubt about direct or indirect involvement" by the U.S. and NATO in the war in Ukraine and that "this level of involvement is rising."

The big picture: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office issued a statement rejecting the claims about Mossad, saying they were “mendacious and without any foundation whatsoever."

A South Korean government official told reporters that the government was aware of reports about the leaks and that it planned to discuss the "issues raised" raised by the incident.

France has denied the allegations that its forces are on the ground in Ukraine. 

“There are no French forces engaged in operations in Ukraine,” the press team for Armed Forces Minister Sébastien Lecornu told Le Monde last weekend.

"The documents cited do not come from the French military. We do not comment on documents whose source is uncertain," they added.

Editor's note: This story was updated with new details and developments.

What we know about the Pentagon document leak

The source of the leak remains unknown and determining who is responsible could be difficult.

The Pentagon seal in the Pentagon Briefing Room. Photo: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The Pentagon

The State Department said on Monday that Secretary of State Tony Blinken has formally determined Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was "wrongfully detained" by Russia. 

Why it matters: The formal determination transfers supervision of the case to the State Department's Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, which will work with other government and non-government agencies and organizations to "develop a strategy to secure" Gershkovich's release. 

The big picture: Blinken had earlier said there was "no doubt" that Gershkovich had been wrongfully detained, but the case had to go through the State Department determination process. 

Gershkovich was arrested on espionage charges in late March — the first time Russia detained a U.S. journalist on spying charges since the Cold War.

The Wall Street Journal has said it "vehemently denies the allegations from the FSB and seeks the immediate release of our trusted and dedicated reporter, Evan Gershkovich."

What they're saying: "Journalism is not a crime," State Department principal deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said in a statement announcing Blinken's determination. 

"We condemn the Kremlin’s continued repression of independent voices in Russia, and its ongoing war against the truth," the statement added. 

"The U.S. government will provide all appropriate support to Mr. Gershkovich and his family. We call for the Russian Federation to immediately release Mr. Gershkovich." 

The U.S. also called on Russia to release "wrongfully detained" U.S. citizen Paul Whelan, who has been jailed since December 2018 on charges of espionage — allegations the U.S. rejects. 

State of play: Patel told reporters earlier Monday that Russia did notify the Biden administration that Gershkovich was detained, but has not granted U.S. consular officials access to the reporter as required by a 1964 treaty between the U.S. and then-Soviet Union. 

"At this point, it is a violation of Russia's obligations under our consular convention and a violation against international law," Patel said during a press briefing. "We have stressed the need for the Russian government to provide this access as soon as possible."

Background: Gershkovich has worked at the WSJ since January 2022 as part of the paper's Moscow bureau, where he helped cover the war in Ukraine, Russia, and other former Soviet states.

Russia's FSB acknowledged in a statement that Gershkovich was accredited as a journalist by Russia's foreign ministry, per RIA Novosti.

Go deeper: How Putin's truth lockdown challenges the promise of an open internet

Editor's note: This story has been updated with comment from State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel.

U.S. officially says Russia "wrongfully detained" WSJ's Evan Gershkovich

The case will be transfer to a special State Department unit that will "develop a strategy to secure" Gershkovich's release.

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