Russia-Ukraine updates: US to ban Russian carriers from its airspace

The European Union imposed Wednesday another slew of tough sanctions on Russia over its recognition of two pro-Russian separatist areas in eastern Ukraine.

The move is an attempt to deter Moscow from proceeding further withs its invasion of Ukraine and follows Tuesday's decision by Germany to halt the certification of a key natural gas pipeline to Russia.

The package of measures adopted by the Council of the EU were published online Wednesday and include a ban on the Russian state and its central bank from accessing the EU's capital and finance markets; sanctions against three Russian state banks; blacklisting all 351 members of the Russian parliament that voted earlier this week to ratify the decision to recgonize the separatist regions as independent; sanctions against 27 "high profile individuals and entities, including the Russian defense minister, top Kremlin officials and propagandists; and an import ban and restrictions on trade and investment, as well as a partial export ban on the two separatist areas.

-ABC News' Patrick Reevell

The United Nations General Assembly -- which includes all U.N. recognized governments -- is meeting Wednesday in its main hall to address the crisis created by Russia's aggression against Ukraine.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, fresh from his meetings Tuesday with President Joe Biden and other top U.S. officials, addressed the hall as the first country, speaking after U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. In a firm speech, Kuleba blasted Russia's recognition of its separatist areas as "independent" and deployment of troops there as an "attack on the United Nations" itself -- a "grim scenario which will throw us back to the darkest times of the 20th century."

"I warn every nation in this distinguished chamber: No one will be able to sit out this crisis," he said. "Your governments and your people will face painful consequences together with our government and our people," Kuleba told the chamber.

"The beginning of a large-scale war in Ukraine will be the end of the world order as we know it. If Russia does not get a severe, swift, and decisive response now, this will mean a total bankruptcy of the international security system and international institutions which are tasked with maintaining the global security order," he added. 

He warned other actors will be "inspired" by Russian President Vladimir Putin's actions and follow his lead -- turning the United Nations into the League of Nations, the early 20th-century international organization that was seen as feckless in stopping the Axis Powers in the lead up to World War II -- a history Kuleba directly referenced.

"We all read history books. We all watch movies about the mistakes politicians made in the run-up to 1914 and 1939, about the feats of our grandparents and the catastrophic price at which a revanchist ruler in Europe was defeated. There is no more important task today than to not repeat the mistakes of the past," he said.

To prevent that, Kuleba called for "decisive, immediate, and proportional action" by the international community -- not just condemnations and statements, but actions.

"These days, we have probably the last window of opportunity to do what Russia does not expect the United Nations and its member states to do -- demonstrate unprecedented ability and readiness to act in order to stop aggression," he said -- finishing by calling on members, regardless of their relations with one another individually, to do "your ultimate duty, to defend the charter of the United Nations."

-ABC News' Conor Finnegan

Ukraine’s government said Wednesday a new cyberattack has hit several of its government ministries, knocking their websites offline, amid warnings of attacks from Russia both on the ground and on the web.

Mikhail Fedorov, minister for digital transformation in Ukraine, announced that a “massive DDoS” attack hit around 4 p.m. local time. He said the websites of Ukraine’s cabinet, parliament and foreign ministry were down and that a number of banks were also having problems.

"It is connected with traffic switching on other provider for minimization of damage from the attack," he said.

RIA Novosti, a Russian state-owned news agency, also reported the cyberattack.

It comes one week after a similar cyberattack in Ukraine.

-ABC News' Patrick Reevell

Ukraine’s military has briefed key members of parliament that it now believes the situation in eastern Ukraine with Russia may sharply deteriorate in the next two days, according to four sources with knowledge of what was said during the briefing. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was present at the Wednesday night briefing, sources said, where the military said they now believe Russia may launch a major attack that would go beyond Eastern Ukraine, targeting at least two major cities. Sources said they told the members of parliament that Kyiv might also be a target -- in line with U.S. officials warning that Russia is preparing a full-scale invasion that will go beyond eastern Ukraine and target Kyiv.

According to two sources, the military believes Russia may target Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city that is located around 20 miles from the border with Russia in the east, and also Kherson, a city in the south close to Crimea.

In a shift of tone Thursday, Ukraine has been taking new steps to brace for a possible attack, declaring a nationwide state of emergency and calling up 36,000 reservists. But publicly Zelenskyy’s administration has continued to say it is not certain whether Russia will attack. It has said, for now, a full-scale mobilization is not necessary, and it has not declared martial law.

-ABC News' Yulia Drozd and Patrick Reevell