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

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

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
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.
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Biden to deliver remarks on security assistance while at Javelin missile facility

President Joe Biden will head to Troy, Alabama, on Tuesday to visit a Lockheed Martin facility that manufactures weapons systems such as Javelin anti-tank missiles, which have been key in Ukraine’s defense against Russia.

Javelin missiles "are lightweight, portable, shoulder fired, anti-tank weapons system that can hit targets up to 2.5 miles away," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Monday. "They're highly lethal, and we've sent over 5,500 Javelin anti-armor systems to Ukraine to support the Ukrainian people's fight for freedom.”

This facility can manufacture up to 2,100 Javelins per year, Psaki said.

She said Biden will also "deliver remarks about the security assistance we are providing, highlighting the urgency of the request to Congress to pass funding quickly to help Ukraine continue to succeed against Russian aggression and to make sure that the United States and our allies can replenish our own stocks of weapons to replace what we have sent to Ukraine."

Asked if there is any concern about depleting stockpiles if the U.S. keeps up this pace of giving Javelin missiles to Ukraine, Psaki said the Department of Defense ensures that the U.S. maintains enough to defend itself.

-ABC News' Justin Ryan Gomez


Russians leaving Mariupol, progress in Donbas 'minimal at best': US

Russia's progress in Ukraine's Donbas region remains "minimal at best," with troops slowed by morale problems, supply issues and risk aversion in combat, a senior U.S. defense official said Monday.

"They are not making the progress that they had scheduled to make, that progress is uneven and incremental," the official said.

The official added, "That's not just because of Russian planning or lack of logistics -- a lot of it is because the Ukrainians have really been resisting quite well."

And Russia's gains, particularly east of Izium and in the city of Popasna in eastern Ukraine, have been fleeting, the official said.

"What we saw there in Popasna is not unlike what we've seen in other hamlets in the Donbas -- they'll move in and then declare victory, and then withdraw their troops only to let the Ukrainians take it back. So there was a lot of back and forth over the last couple of days," the official said.

Russian troops have also been leaving the Mariupol area to push north and northwest in recent days, according to the official.

"Largely the efforts around Mariupol for the Russians are now in the realm of airstrikes," the official said.

Russia is likely pushing these troops north as part of its plan to encircle and trap Ukrainian forces in the Donbas region, according to the official.

More Ukrainian troops are completing training on the U.S.-made M777 howitzer system at multiple sites outside of Ukraine, according to the official. Ukrainians have also completed training on the Phoenix Ghost drone system.

-ABC News' Matt Seyler


Top Russian general visited Donbas last week: US

Russia's top general, Valery Gerasimov, spent several days in Ukraine's Donbas region last week, a senior U.S. defense official told reporters Monday.

The U.S. believes Gerasimov is now back in Russia, the official said.

The official couldn't confirm whether the general was targeted by Ukrainian forces during his visit and said the purpose of his trip is not clear to U.S. officials.

"It's certainly possible that his trip was a manner of oversight and trying to gauge for himself what was going on in the Donbas. But what he came away with, what he learned, what he transmitted to his commanders, if anything, we just don't know," the official said.

-ABC News' Matt Seyler


Ukraine claims it targeted 2 Russian naval vessels

Valeriy Zaluzhniy, the commander in chief of Ukraine's Armed Forces, said Ukrainian troops targeted two Russian naval vessels in the Black Sea on Monday.

He shared video on his Facebook page that he says shows drones striking the boats.

Russian officials have not confirmed the strikes.

-ABC News' Irene Hnatiuk


Journalist killed by Russian bombardment in Kyiv

At least one person -- a journalist -- was killed in a rocket attack on a residential building in Kyiv on Thursday evening, ABC News has learned.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Kilitschko said Friday that rescuers had found the body of a victim amid the rubble.

Radio Liberty, a service of the U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, reported that one of its employees, Vira Gyrych, was killed when a Russian missile hit her apartment in the Ukrainian capital on Thursday. Her body was found beneath the wreckage Friday morning, according to the report.

Gyrych had worked as a journalist and producer for Radio Liberty's Kyiv bureau since 2018. Prior to that, she worked for leading Ukrainian television channels, according to Radio Liberty.

"The editorial staff of Radio Liberty expresses its condolences to the family of Vira Gyrych and will remember her as a bright and kind person, a true professional," Radio Liberty said in its report.

Israeli Ambassador to Ukraine Michael Brodsky also confirmed Gyrych's death in a Twitter post, saying she was a former employee of the Israeli embassy in Kyiv.

Thursday's rocket attack came as United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres visited Kyiv. Five Russian missiles flew into the city, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. At least 10 people were injured, including four who were hospitalized, according to the Kyiv City Council.