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 25, 2022, 3:01 PM EDT

Russian forces target railways, killing at least 5

Russian forces have carried out five strikes targeting Ukraine railway stations, according to the head of the state-run Ukrainian railways, Oleksandr Kamyshin.

The hardest hit were the towns of Zhmerynka and Kozyatyn, where five people were killed and 18 were injured, according to Serhii Borzov, the head of the Vinnytsia regional military administration.

No casualties were reported in the other railway strikes, which were in the Lviv, Rivne and Zhytomyr regions, officials said.

-ABC News' Natalya Kushnir, Fidel Pavlenko and Christine Theodorou

Apr 25, 2022, 2:14 PM EDT

UN secretary-general heading to Moscow for Lavrov, Putin meetings

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres is traveling on Monday to Moscow, where on Tuesday he will have a working meeting and lunch with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov followed by a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, a deputy spokesperson for the secretary-general said.

On Thursday, Guterres will visit Ukraine where he'll meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.

PHOTO: A firefighter stands next to an apartment building damaged in Odesa, Ukraine, April 23, 2022.
A firefighter stands next to an apartment building damaged in Odesa, Ukraine, April 23, 2022.
Max Pshybyshevsky/AP

-ABC News' Christine Theodorou

Apr 25, 2022, 1:25 PM EDT

About 15,000 Russian troops killed in Ukraine war

About 15,000 Russian troops have been killed since the Ukraine invasion began, British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace told Members of Parliament on Monday, according to the British Press Association.

Russia has lost more than 60 helicopters and fighter jets, and over 2,000 of Russia's armored vehicles have been destroyed or captured, Wallace added.

An armored vehicle of pro-Russia troops is seen in the street of the southeastern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine, on April 11, 2022, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Chingis Kondarov/Reuters

Apr 25, 2022, 9:25 AM EDT

Biden announces nominee for ambassador to Ukraine

President Joe Biden is nominating Bridget Brink to serve as U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, he announced Monday.

Brink is currently the U.S. ambassador to the Slovak Republic and previously served as senior adviser and deputy assistant secretary in the State Department's Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs.

"Brink spent her twenty-five-year career in the Foreign Service focused on advancing U.S. policy in Europe and Eurasia," Biden's statement said.

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