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.
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.
Here's how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Apr 26, 2022, 5:06 PM EDT
US diplomats briefly return to Ukraine, but embassy remains closed
The United States returned diplomats to Ukraine for the first time since the beginning of the Russian invasion with a team making a day trip across the border from Poland to meet Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials, the State Department confirmed on Tuesday.
"The deputy chief of mission and members of the embassy team traveled to Lviv, Ukraine, today, where they were able to continue our close collaboration with key Ukrainian partners," said State Department spokesperson Ned Price.
Price called the move a "first step" toward eventually reopening the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv.
"Today's travel was a first step ahead of more regular travel in the immediate future. And as we've said, we're accelerating preparations to resume Embassy Kyiv operations just as soon as possible," Price said. "We are constantly assessing and evaluating and reassessing the security situation with a view toward resuming those embassy operations as soon as possible."
-ABC News' Conor Finnigan
Apr 26, 2022, 4:46 PM EDT
Germany to send anti-aircraft tanks to Ukraine
Germany plans to supply Ukraine with "Gepard" anti-aircraft tanks, the German Minister of Defense announced Tuesday on Twitter.
"We made our decisions in coordination with our allies," German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht said earlier Tuesday during a news conference at a meeting of NATO countries hosted by the United States at Ramstein Air Base. "That is, once it was clear others will deliver certain systems, we support them in that. We deliver as well. That is our way -- Germany is not doing it alone. And if Ukraine now urgently needs such air defense systems, then we are also prepared to support them."
Lambrecht said Tuesday's gathering of NATO countries to discuss strengthening Ukraine's military both in the short and long terms was a "starting point."
"The best security strategy for Ukraine is well-trained and equipped armed forces," Lambrecht said, "Germany has been providing a very high level of support in a variety of ways since the war began."
The move from Germany comes just days after Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk told ABC News that she was disappointed in Germany for seemingly dragging its feet on sending heavy artillery, including tanks, to Ukraine and said it appeared German leaders are attempting to placate Putin.
“They don’t understand. There is no way to pacify Putin," Vereshchuk said. "It would be a huge problem for NATO if Russia has dominance over the Black Sea.”
Apr 26, 2022, 3:51 PM EDT
Blinken says Ukrainians have won the battle for Kyiv
Speaking publicly about his visit to Ukraine for the first time since returning home, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken declared to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that “the Ukrainians have won the battle for Kyiv.”
Blinken, who visited Ukraine over the weekend with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, emphasized the need for additional aid to help Ukrainians weather the ongoing war as it enters its next phase.
“As we took the train across the border and rode westward into Ukraine, we saw mile after mile of Ukrainian countryside, territory that just a couple of months ago, the Russian government thought that it could seize in a matter of weeks. Today -- firmly Ukraine's," Blinken told the committee.
4:33
Secretary Blinken testifies after trip to UkraineSecretary of State Antony Blinken testifies about the latest U.S. assessment of the war in Ukraine before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
ABCNews.com
Blinken said that while in Kyiv, he saw the signs of "a vibrant city coming back to life" with people eating outside, sitting on benches and strolling the streets.
“For all the suffering that they've endured, for all the carnage that Russia's brutal invasion continues to inflict, Ukraine was and will continue to be a free and independent country," he said.
Blinken said the United States has played a vital part in helping Ukrainian forces mount an effective resistance against Russia.
“I have to tell you, I felt some pride in what the United States has done to support the Ukrainian government and its people and an even firmer conviction that we must not let up," Blinken said. "Moscow's war of aggression against Ukraine has underscored the power and purpose of American diplomacy."
He added, "We have to continue to drive that diplomacy forward to seize what I believe are strategic opportunities, as well as address risks presented by Russia's overreach as countries are reconsidering their policies, their priorities, their relationships."
-ABC News' Shannon Crawford and Conor Finnegan
Apr 26, 2022, 2:28 PM EDT
UN chief presses Putin on urgent need for humanitarian corridors in Ukraine
Prior to meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issued a statement calling for humanitarian corridors in Ukraine that are "truly safe."
Guterres later raised the issue with Putin during a face-to-face meeting, stressing the urgent need for the creation of safe and effective humanitarian corridors in the war-ravaged Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, where he said thousands of civilians remain trapped, according to the Russian state-run TASS news service. Guterres also proposed the creation of a humanitarian contact group.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during a joint press conference with Russian Foreign Minister following their talks in Moscow, April 26, 2022.
POOL/AFP via Getty Images
"We urgently need humanitarian corridors that are truly safe and effective, and that are respected by all to evacuate civilians and deliver much needed assistance," Guterres said prior to meeting with Putin. "To that end, I have proposed the establishment of a humanitarian contact group, bringing together the Russian Federation, Ukraine, and the U.N. to look for opportunities for the opening of safe corridors, with local cessation of hostilities and to guarantee they are actually effective."
Guterres made his statement following a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
While meeting with Guterres, Putin said the U.N. chief has been misled and insisted that humanitarian corridors in Mariupol are functioning, according to TASS.
"You say that Russia's humanitarian corridors are not operating. Mr. Secretary-General, you have been misled: these corridors are operating," Putin said, according to TASS.
Putin told Guterres that up to 140,000 people had fled Mariupol with the assistance of Russia.
"And they can go anywhere. Some want to go to Russia; some want to go to Ukraine. Anywhere! We do not keep them, we provide all kinds of help and support," Putin said, according to TASS.
However, Putin “agreed, in principle, to the involvement of the United Nations and the International Committee for the Red Cross in the evacuation of civilians from the Azovstal plant in Mariupol," according to a readout of the meeting provided by the U.N.
