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

Biden will announce the news in his State of the Union address, a source said.

Russian forces are continuing their attempted push through Ukraine from multiple directions, while Ukrainians, led by President Volodymr Zelenskyy, are putting up "stiff resistance," according to U.S. officials.

The attack began Feb. 24 as Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a "special military operation."

Russians moving from Belarus towards Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, don't appear to have advanced closer towards the city since coming within about 20 miles, although smaller advanced groups have been fighting gun battles with Ukrainian forces inside the capital since at least Friday.

Russia has been met by sanctions from the U.S., Canada and countries throughout Europe, targeting Russia's economy and Putin himself.


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Lawmakers warn Biden to seek authorization before sending troops to Ukraine

While President Joe Biden has made clear he is not considering sending U.S. troops into Ukraine, having said it would lead to war, a group of lawmakers sent him a letter late Tuesday to remind him that he must get authorization from Congress before he decides to engage the military in Ukraine.

The bipartisan oddball group of lawmakers who signed the letter includes Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, D-N.Y., Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Florida, and Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., among about three dozen others.

"If the ongoing situation compels you to introduce the brave men and women of our military into Ukraine, their lives would inherently be put at risk of Russia chooses to invade," read the letter, which Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., shared on Twitter. "Therefore, we ask that your decisions comport with the Constitution and our nation's laws by consulting with Congress to receive authorization before any such development."

Lawmakers wrote that the War Powers Resolution of 1973 has been abused by previous presidents, and they noted that the act restricted Biden from not only engaging troops in battle but also from launching a "pre-emptive strike."

"Congress stands ready to deliberate over the potentially monumental implications of such scenarios," they said.

-ABC News' Mariam Khan


EU imposes more sanctions on Russia

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


Ukraine FM calls on UN to act or face 'the darkest times of the 20th Century'

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


Another cyberattack hits Ukraine government websites

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


Elon Musk says he's activated Starlink in Ukraine

In response to a plea on Twitter from a Ukrainian official, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said Saturday that his high-speed internet service Starlink is now active in Ukraine.

"More terminals en route," he tweeted in a reply to Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine's vice prime minister and minister of digital transformation.

Earlier Saturday, Fedorov appealed directly to Musk and asked him to provide Ukraine with Starlink stations.

The terminals are small, portable satellite dishes on Earth that connect directly to Starlink satellites in space -- providing high-speed internet to rural and hard-to-reach locations. This is especially important for areas that have already lost access and could potentially help them avoid cyberattacks.

-ABC News' Gio Benitez