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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Latest headlines:
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
School in Luhansk region destroyed in shelling
The Lysychansk Gymnasium, an acclaimed secondary school in Ukraine's Luhansk region, burned to the ground after coming under fire in targeted shelling, said Serhiy Haidai, the head of Luhansk's Regional Military Administration. The school was more than a century old.
-ABC News' Max Uzol and Irene Hnatiuk
Ukraine regains control over several areas near Kharkiv
Ukrainian forces have carried out an offensive in the country's Kharkiv region, taking back control of several settlements, Ukraine's Ministry of Defense said Monday. This includes the settlements of Verkhnya Rohanka, Ruska Lozova, Slobidske and Prilesne.
-ABC News' Irene Hnatiuk
US Embassy staff back in Ukraine for 1st time in months
U.S. Embassy staff returned to Ukraine for the day on Monday, marking the first trip back in the country since February.
"We expect to continue to do day trips for the next week or two and we very much hope that the conditions will permit us to go back to Kyiv by the end of the month," Kristina Kvien, the U.S. chargé d'affaires to Ukraine, said in a statement.
Kvien said, "The message to Russia is: you failed -- Ukraine is still standing, the government is still functioning and we are going back to Lviv first and then Kyiv to help the government."
Kvien continued, "We are listening to the security professionals and when they tell us we can go back we go back. And while we are eager to do so we also want to make sure we are listening to the experts. So, the fact that we are here in Ukraine means that the security officials just said that it is ok and safe to meet here in Lviv and hopefully we will get the clearance to go back to Kyiv."
-ABC News' Clark Bentson
Mariupol besieged but not fallen, Ukrainian prime minister says
Mariupol has not yet fallen, despite Russia's demands that Ukrainian troops defending the besieged Ukrainian port city surrender, according to Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.
"There [are] still our military forces, our soldiers, so they will fight until the end," Shmyhal told ABC News' George Stephanopoulos in an exclusive interview Sunday on "This Week."
Mariupol is a strategic city for Moscow because it would allow Russian forces in the south to connect with troops in eastern Ukraine's contested Donbas region. It would also give Moscow a key port.
Although Mariupol remains under the Ukrainian government's control, Shmyhal said the city's residents are suffering.
"They have no water, no food, no heat, no electricity," he said. "They ask all of our partners to support and help stop this humanitarian catastrophe."
-ABC News' Monica Dunn