Russia-Ukraine updates: 2 US veterans who joined Ukrainian forces missing

The Americans, Andy Tai Ngoc Huynh and Alexander Drueke, are both from Alabama.

ByMorgan Winsor, Emily Shapiro, Meredith Deliso, Nadine El-Bawab, Ivan Pereira, Bill Hutchinson, and Kevin Shalvey
Last Updated: July 4, 2022, 10:37 AM EDT

Russian President Vladimir Putin's "special military operation" into neighboring Ukraine began on Feb. 24, with Russian forces invading from Belarus, to the north, and Russia, to the east. Ukrainian troops have offered "stiff resistance," according to U.S. officials.

The Russian military has since launched a full-scale ground offensive in eastern Ukraine's disputed Donbas region, capturing the strategic port city of Mariupol and securing a coastal corridor to the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula.

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Two Men at War

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.

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Apr 22, 2022, 6:29 PM EDT

1 dead, 27 missing from Moskva ship, Russian Defense Ministry says

The Russian Defense Ministry announced that one servicemember died and another 27 crew members went missing from its Black Sea Fleet flagship vessel Moskva last week.

"The remaining 396 crew members were evacuated from the cruiser to the ships of the Black Sea Fleet," the defense ministry said Friday.

A satellite image shows a view of Russian Navy's guided missile cruiser Moskva in the Black Sea, northwest of Sevastopol, Crimea, April 10, 2022.
Maxar Technologies via Reuters, FILE

The warship sank on April 14 following what the Ukrainians claimed was a missile attack. Russia did not acknowledge an attack on the ship and continued to say a fire broke out after ammunition detonated.

The defense ministry's latest announcement contradicts its earlier statement that all Moskva crew members had been rescued.

-ABC News' Somayeh Malekian

Apr 22, 2022, 4:28 PM EDT

More than 20 countries to attend defense talks hosted by US

More than 20 countries have accepted an invitation to attend a Ukraine-focused defense talk on Tuesday hosted by the U.S., Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said Friday.

More than 40 NATO and non-NATO countries have been invited to the talks, which will be hosted by U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, Kirby said.

"The goal is to bring together stakeholders from all around the world for a series of meetings on the latest [Ukrainian] defense needs and … ensuring that Ukraine’s enduring security and sovereignty over the long-term is respected and developed,” Kirby said.

A man walks downstairs outside a residential building damaged during Ukraine-Russia conflict in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine, April 21, 2022.
Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters

-ABC News' Somayeh Malekian

Apr 22, 2022, 12:19 PM EDT

UN chief to meet with Putin in Moscow

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow on Monday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to President of Transneft Nikolay Tokarev, at the Kremlin in Moscow, April 21, 2022.
Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin Pool via AP

Guterres wrote separate letters to Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday asking to meet "to discuss urgent steps to bring about peace in Ukraine," a U.N. spokesperson said earlier this week.

Apr 22, 2022, 12:12 PM EDT

Russian swimmer suspended for attending Putin event

The international swimming federation FINA said it has suspended swimmer Evgeny Rylov, a Russian Olympic gold medalist, for allegedly attending a March concert where Russian President Vladimir Putin justified the invasion of Ukraine. The suspension will last nine months.

Evgeny Rylov of the Russian Olympic Committee poses with his gold medal for the men's 100-meter backstroke final at the 2020 Summer Olympics, July 27, 2021, in Tokyo.
Matthias Schrader/AP, FILE

FINA also said Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials won't be invited to any FINA events through the end of 2022.

-ABC News' Christine Theodorou

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