Russia-Ukraine updates: US sanctions Russian military shipbuilder, diamond miner

Russia's largest military shipbuilding and diamond mining firms were targeted.

ByMorgan Winsor, Emily Shapiro, Nadine El-Bawab, Ivan Pereira, Julia Jacobo, Meredith Deliso, Bill Hutchinson, Kevin Shalvey, Celia Darrough, Mary Kekatos, and Samara Lynn
Last Updated: April 8, 2022, 4:34 AM EDT

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.

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Here's how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Mar 29, 2022, 8:24 AM EDT

Deadly missile strike leaves gaping hole in Mykolaiv government building

Russian forces struck Mykolaiv's regional state administration building on Tuesday morning, Ukrainian authorities said.

A video posted on Telegram by Mykolaiv Oblast Gov. Vitaliy Kim and verified by ABC News shows the moment the building was hit. A live webcam over the southern city of Mykolaiv captured the missile crossing the camera. Moments later, smoke from an explosion fills the screen.

Another video posted on Facebook by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine and verified by ABC News shows a gaping hole in the building where the missile hit. At least seven people were killed and 22 others were injured. Search and rescue operations are ongoing, according to the State Emergency Service.

An image posted on Twitter by Ukraine's Center for Strategic Communication and Information Security (Stratcom) also showed the destroyed building.

-ABC News' Monica Camacho and Fergal Gallagher

Mar 29, 2022, 7:44 AM EDT

Macron to speak with Putin on Tuesday

French President Emmanuel Macron will speak via telephone with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, according to the Elysee Palace.

French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, March 19, 2022.
Gonzalo Fuentes/Pool/Reuters, File

Their phone conversation is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Paris time.

-ABC News' Ibtissem Guenfoud

Mar 29, 2022, 6:16 AM EDT

Kremlin confirms Abramovich's involvement in peace talks

Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich is taking part in Russian-Ukrainian negotiations at the approval of both parties, although he is not an official member of the Russian delegation, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

"Abramovich has been engaged in ensuring certain contacts between the Russian and the Ukrainian side," Peskov said during a daily call with reporters Tuesday. "He is not an official delegation member."

PHOTO: Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich listens as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (not pictured) addresses Russian and Ukrainian negotiators before their face-to-face talks in Istanbul on March 29, 2022.
Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich listens as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (not pictured) addresses Russian and Ukrainian negotiators before their face-to-face talks in Istanbul on March 29, 2022, in this screen grab taken from a video.
Turkish Presidency/via Reuters

"Nevertheless, he is also present on our side in Istanbul," Peskov added, referring to the peace talks currently underway in Turkey's capital.

Abramovich's participation in the negotiations has been endorsed by both sides, according to Peskov.

Peskov said it will be clear "today or tomorrow whether [the talks] hold some promise or not."

Mar 29, 2022, 6:59 AM EDT

Ukrainian soldiers patrol streets of Irpin after claims of liberation

Ukrainian soldiers were seen patrolling the streets of Irpin on Tuesday, following claims that the besieged Kyiv suburb has been "liberated" from Russian forces.

Video released by the Ukrainian military and verified by ABC News shows their troops driving through Irpin, a northwestern suburb of Kyiv where some of the heaviest fighting near the Ukrainian capital has taken place.

Irpin Mayor Oleksandr Markushyn announced in a video posted to Telegram on Monday that "Irpin has been liberated."

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian government released video on Tuesday showing elderly people who had been evacuated from Irpin arriving in Kyiv, where they reunited with their families.

The footage purportedly shows 86-year-old Irpin resident Olga Molchanova being embraced by her daughter and son. Molchanova's adult children had evacuated Irpin earlier via a humanitarian corridor, but their parents refused to leave at the time, according to Ukraine's Center for Strategic Communication and Information Security (Stratcom).

"Recaptured by Ukrainian army, Irpin remains too dangerous for civilians to stay," Stratcom said in a post on Twitter alongside the video.

-ABC News' Monica Camacho and Fergal Gallagher

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