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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Russia 'lost momentum' in eastern offensive: UK

Russia has "lost momentum and fallen significantly behind schedule" in its offensive on eastern Ukraine's Donbas region, the U.K. Ministry of Defense said.

"Despite small-scale initial advances, Russia has failed to achieve substantial territorial gains over the past month whilst sustaining consistently high levels of attrition," the ministry said on Sunday. "Russia has now likely suffered losses of one third of the ground combat force it committed in February."

Russian forces in late March pulled out of the suburbs north of Kyiv and collected in eastern Ukraine. They began an offensive in April, but have since foundered, the U.K. said.

Low troop morale, reduced combat effectiveness and loss of equipment have all played a role in slowing the Russian advance, the ministry said.


Lavrov says West has declared war on Russia and 'everyone' will feel the consequences

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the West has declared a "total hybrid war" on Russia and warned that everyone will feel the consequences on Saturday.

"The collective West has declared a "total hybrid war" against us and it is hard to predict how long it will last, but it is clear that everyone, without exception, will feel the consequences," he said at a meeting of the Council for Foreign and Defense Policy on Saturday.

Lavrov added: "We did our best to avoid a direct clash, but if they have challenged us, we, of course, accept it," the minister said. "We are used to sanctions, they have existed nearly forever in one or another kind."


Putin tells Finnish President joining NATO ditches neutrality and is a wrong decision

In a phone call initiated by Finland on Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Finnish President Sauli Niinisto discussed Finland’s decision to join NATO.

Putin described the decision as a mistake that could damage relations between their two countries, according to the Kremlin.

"Putin stressed that abandoning the traditional policy of military neutrality would be wrong, since there are no threats to Finland's security. Such a change in the country's foreign policy course may negatively affect Russian-Finnish relations, which for many years have been built in the spirit of good-neighbourliness and partnership, and have been mutually beneficial," the Kremlin said.

Niinisto's office said Finland initiated the call.

""President Niinisto told President Putin how fundamentally the Russian demands in late 2021 aiming at preventing countries from joining NATO and Russia’s massive invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 have altered the security environment of Finland," Niinisto's office said in a statement.

Niinisto told Putin that every independent nation maximizes its security, according to Niinisto's office.

“The conversation was direct and straight-forward and it was conducted without aggravations. Avoiding tensions was considered important," President Niinisto says.

-ABC News' Somayeh Malekian


Mitch McConnell, US senators visit Kyiv

U.S. senators, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell visited Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced in a video posted online Saturday.

“The visit of the U.S. Senate delegation led by the leader of the Republican minority in the upper house of Congress Mitchell McConnell is a strong signal of bipartisan support for Ukraine from the United States Congress and the American people," Zelenskyy said on Telegram.

Zelenskyy added: "Thank you for your leadership in helping us fight not only for our country, but also for democratic values and freedoms. We really appreciate it.”

-ABC News' Clack Bentson


White House national security adviser hints at more sanctions against Russia

White House national security advisor Jake Sullivan hinted Thursday of more sanctions coming against Russia in the "next week or two" aimed at targeting ways Moscow is evading sanctions already imposed.

“Where our focus will be over the course of the coming days is on evasion,” Sullivan said Thursday at the Economic Club of Washington. “As Russia tries to adjust to the fact that it’s under this massive economic pressure, what steps do they take to try to evade our sanctions and how do we crack down on that? And I think we'll have some announcements in the next week or two that identify targets that are trying to facilitate that evasion both inside Russia and beyond."

When Sullivan was asked whether sanctions will automatically be lifted if a negotiated peace deal between Russia and Ukraine is worked out, he appeared cautious with his words, saying, “a lot of that depends on what the shape and scope” of the agreement is.

“A lot of it depends on what the Ukrainians, in consultation with us and the Europeans come to agree to," Sullivan said. "You know, we're not going to do a deal over the head of the Ukrainians where we give a bunch of sanctions relief to Russia. But if some measure of sanctions relief were built in to some credible diplomatic solution led by the Ukrainians, that's something that we would happily discuss."

But Sullivan said Russian oligarchs shouldn't expect to ever get back their yachts and other assets seized under sanctions that have been imposed, saying the ultimate goal is "not to give them back” once the war is over.

“The president is actively looking at how we can deal with the fact that as we seize these assets, our goal is not to give them back. Our goal is to put them to a better use than that," Sullivan said. "But I'll be careful in what I say today because there's an ongoing kind of policy process around how we end up dealing with that question. But, rest assured, that the goal is not just to sit on them for a while."

-ABC News' Justin Gomez