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 signs $40 billion Ukraine aid bill into law

President Biden signed the $40 billion Ukraine aid bill into law Saturday, the White House announced in a press release.

The bill provides supplemental emergency funds to Federal agencies to respond and provide assistance to Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked Biden on Twitter for the aid.

"The leadership of US, President Biden & the American people in supporting Ukrainians fight against the Russian aggressor is crucial. Look forward to new, powerful defense assistance. Today it is needed more than ever," Zelenskyy said.

-ABC News' Molly Nagle and Max Uzol


Russian Foreign Ministry publishes list of Americans banned from entering Russia

The Russian Foreign Ministry on Saturday published a list of American citizens who are barred from entering the Russian Federation on a permanent basis.

Russia said the move was in retaliation for anti-Russian sanctions currently imposed by the U.S.

The list published on the ministry's website comprises 963 U.S. citizens, including President Joe Biden.


More than 40 countries to take part in next Ukraine Contact Group meeting

More than 40 countries will be represented at the second meeting of the Ukraine Contact Group, formed last month to coordinate international support for Ukraine, according to Pentagon press secretary John Kirby.

Monday's meeting "will allow us to continue to dip into a process to get Ukraine, or at least to make other nations available and knowledgeable about what Ukraine needs as the fight is ongoing," Kirby told reporters during a briefing Friday.

More than 40 nations attended the first meeting both virtually and in-person at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. New countries will attend the second, which will be strictly virtual, Kirby said.

"There are some countries that have shown an interest in participating that weren't in the first meeting," said Kirby, who called the first iteration "a true global community" of countries in NATO and beyond.

-ABC News' Matt Seyler


Russian Ministry of Defense claims it has taken complete control over Azovstal steel plant, Mariupol

Russia's Ministry of Defense claimed Friday it has taken complete control of the Azovstal plant and Mariupol from the Ukrainian forces, expelling them from the port city.

The underground facilities of the plant, in which the Azov National Regiment militia were hiding, came under the complete control of Russian forces, the ministry claimed.

The commander of the Azov Regiment was reportedly taken out of the territory of the plant in an armored car, the ministry said.

Russia claims 2,439 Ukrainian servicemen have laid down their arms and surrendered since May 16.

-ABC News' Alexandra Faul


State Dept. reacts to train station attack

Jalina Porter, the State Department's deputy spokesperson, is responding to the Russian attack at a Ukraine train station that killed at least 50, saying, "We can no longer be surprised by the Kremlin's repugnant disregard for human life."

Five children were among those killed when Russian rockets struck the station in Kramatorsk in Donetsk Oblast on Friday morning, according to Ukraine's state-owned railway company. At least 100 people were injured, according to Donetsk Oblast Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko.

Russia has denied involvement in the attack, which occurred as "thousands" of civilians fleeing the Russian invasion were at the train station waiting to be taken to "safer regions of Ukraine," according to Kyrylenko.

"Civilians are killed when they stay in their homes, and they're killed when they try to leave," Porter said. "Actions like these demonstrate why Russia did not belong on the U.N. Human Rights Council, and they also reinforce the U.S. assessment that members of Russian forces are committing war crimes in Ukraine."

Porter declined to say if the department considers the train station attack a war crime, saying, "Assessing individual criminal liability in specific cases is the responsibility of courts, as well as other investigatory bodies. But as the secretary, Secretary [of State Antony] Blinken, has said, 'Those responsible for war crimes and other atrocities committed in Ukraine will be held to account.'"

-ABC News' Conor Finnegan