Russian President Vladimir Putin's "special military operation” into Ukraine began on Feb. 24, with troops crossing the border from Belarus and Russia. Moscow's forces have since been met with “stiff resistance” from Ukrainians, according to U.S. officials.
Russian forces retreated last week from the Kyiv suburbs, leaving behind a trail of destruction. After graphic images emerged of civilians lying dead in the streets of Bucha, U.S. and European officials accused Russian troops of committing war crimes.
A look at the two leaders at the center of the war in Ukraine and how they both rose to power, the difference in their leadership and what led to this moment in history.
Russia claimed Wednesday that its forces carried out an airstrike destroying a weapons depot of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
The Russian Ministry of Defense also alleged that troops have destroyed 430 aircraft, including drones, as well as more than 1,500 tanks and other combat armoured vehicles belonging to the Ukrainian Armed Forces since the "special military operation" began Feb. 24.
A car destroyed by shelling is seen in a street in Kharkiv, Ukraine, March 22, 2022.
Andrew Marienko/AP
Mar 23, 2022, 5:20 AM EDT
Talks with Moscow 'are moving forward,' Zelenskyy says
Negotiations between Ukraine and Russia are "very difficult" but "moving forward," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday.
"It's very difficult, sometimes confrontational," Zelenskyy said in an early morning address. "But step by step, we are moving forward."
Zelenskyy added that he is "grateful to all international mediators who are standing up for Ukraine."
Mar 22, 2022, 5:52 PM EDT
Zelenskyy to address NATO summit remotely on Thursday
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will virtually address a NATO summit in Brussels on Thursday, his office confirmed to ABC News.
"We are still working on the format," his office said in a statement.
It is unclear if Zelenskyy will prerecord a statement or participate in the discussion.
-ABC News' Oleksii Pshemyskyi and Aicha El Hammar Castano
Mar 22, 2022, 5:00 PM EDT
US says Putin may be seeking 'vengeance' on Mariupol
The besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol seems to be facing particular brutalization by Russian forces, including "some of the most egregious accounts of what could constitute war crimes," U.S. Department of State spokesperson Ned Price said Tuesday.
The southeastern coastal city's strategic location could be a factor, Price told reporters during a briefing. There may also be a "particular vengeance against this population," he added, with Putin "having been under the impression -- whether he was misinformed or just unwitting of reality -- that his forces would not be greeted as anything other than the aggressors that they are."
People dig a grave for victims killed during Ukraine-Russia conflict in the besieged southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine March 20, 2022.
Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters
"Every day when it comes to potential atrocities, we are seeing, we are all witnessing additional evidence that the Russians are in fact committing atrocities, committing acts that may go above that threshold to include potential war crimes," Price said.
Price said the U.S. still hasn't confirmed Russia's claims that it has evacuated thousands of Ukrainian civilians from the city to Russian territory.