Russia-Ukraine live updates: Russia strikes port after agreeing to let ships leave
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 Developments
Jul 23, 10:51 AM
2 Americans killed in eastern Ukraine
Two Americans thought to have been fighting for Ukraine have died in the eastern reach of the country, according to officials.
“We can confirm the recent deaths of two U.S. citizens in the Donbas region of Ukraine,” a State Department spokesperson said. “We are in touch with the families and providing all possible consular assistance.”
One of the Americans killed has been identified as Luke Lucyszyn, his mother confirmed to ABC News.
-ABC News Shannon Crawford, Patrick Reevell and Rashid Haddou
Jul 23, 10:11 AM
Russian missile strikes Odesa port, after grain deal to let ships leave
A Russian missile struck the Ukrainian port of Odesa on Saturday, just one day after Russia signed an agreement to allow grain ships to begin leaving the port.
The deal between Russia and Ukraine was mediated by Turkey and the United Nations. Fears of a global famine loomed as Russian ships had imposed a blockade on Ukraine exporting grain.
"It took less than 24 hours for the Russian Federation to launch a missile strike on the territory of the city of Odesa to question the agreement and promises made by it to the UN and Turkey in the document signed yesterday in Istanbul," the Ukrainian Embassy of Turkey said in a statement. "The Russian rocket is a spit of Vladimir Putin in the face of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Turkish President Recep Erdogan, who made a huge effort to reach the deal, and to which Ukraine is grateful."
The embassy added: "Ukraine stresses the need for persistent implementation of agreements to restore safe export of Ukrainian agricultural goods by the Black Sea from three ports: Odessa, Black Sea and South."
-ABC News' Patrick Reevell and Rashid Haddou
Jul 22, 3:12 PM
Biden administration making 'preliminary explorations' into sending fighter jets
The Biden administration announced a new $270 million weapons package for Ukraine, which includes more HIMARS and drones. The administration is also in the very early stages of considering whether to send Ukraine fighter jets to counter Russia’s military, John Kirby, the National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications at the White House, said Friday
Kirby stressed that this is "not going to be something that they're going to be able to execute immediately or even in the short term," because these are advanced U.S. aircrafts and not ex-Soviet aircrafts.
"You’ve got to think about things like training, sustainment, maintenance that these aircraft would be required, you know, spare parts. There's a whole supply chain that goes with keeping any airframe in the air and all that has to be factored in," he said.
For now, Kirby said, the U.S. will continue to provide weapons and equipment through security packages like the new one announced Friday.
This package includes four more HIMARS advanced rocket systems, additional ammunition for those systems, anti-armor systems, vehicles and 36,000 rounds of artillery ammunition to go with the howitzers Ukrainians are using.
-ABC News’ Justin Gomez
Jul 22, 11:12 AM
Both nations sign agreement to end blockade on Ukraine grain
Russia and Ukraine have signed agreements to restart grain exports from Ukraine, said United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres.
The agreement between the two countries was mediated with Turkey and the United Nations.
The blockade on exporting grain from Ukraine had triggered fears of global famine.
The agreement "opens a path for commercial food exports from Ukraine in the Black Sea. It will help avoid a food shortage catastrophe for millions worldwide," Guterres tweeted. "It is a beacon of hope, possibility & relief."
The deal will allow for the transport of grain from three Ukrainian ports. Under the deal Ukraine will not de-mine its ports; instead there will be safe channels for cargo ships to sail through.
The agreement lasts for 120 days with the possibility of an extension.
According to Russian media, in exchange for agreeing to sign the deal, Russia received a guarantee from the U.N. to work on lifting sanctions on Russian agricultural and fertilizer exports.
-ABC News' Patrick Reevell
Jul 20, 12:31 PM
Zelenska shares photos of killed civilians in her address to Congress
Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska spoke to members of Congress on Capitol Hill Wednesday, saying, "Usually the wives of president are exclusively engaged in peaceful affairs: education, human rights, equality, accessibility. And maybe you expected for me to speak on those topics. But how can I talk about them when an unprovoked invasive terrorist war is being waged against my country?"
Zelenska said this marks the first time the wife of a president of a foreign county addressed members of Congress on the Hill.
Zelenska showed members of Congress several images and stories of carnage impacting civilians, including a photo of 4-year-old Liza who was killed by a Russian missile attack last week.
Liza's mother was seriously hurt, and "for several days, nobody dared to tell her that Liza has died," Zelenska said.
She highlighted an Odesa family who lost three generations of women to one missile, and a 96-year-old who survived Nazi concentration camps only to be killed in Kharkiv.
The first lady asked Congress to supply more air defense systems.
"Will my son be able to return to school in the fall? I don't know, like millions of mothers in Ukraine. Will my daughter will be able to go to university at the beginning of the academic year and experience normal student life? I cannot answer," she said. "We will have answers if we had air defense systems."
"America, unfortunately, knows from its own experience what terrorist attacks are and has always sought to defeat terrorists. Help us to stop this terror against Ukrainians," she said.
Zelenska received a standing ovation after her remarks.
Jul 20, 9:05 AM
US announces 4 new HIMARS and more ammo for Ukraine
The U.S. will send four more HIMARS advanced rocket systems to Ukraine as part of the new presidential drawdown package coming later this week, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced Wednesday.
Once these four long-range rocket artillery systems arrive, Ukraine will have a total of 16 HIMARS at its disposal.
Austin said these advanced rocket systems “have made such a difference on the battlefield.”
The new package will also include more ammunition for the HIMARS and for the 155 mm artillery weapons the U.S. and other countries have sent to Ukraine, Austin said at the fourth Ukraine defense contact group meeting, with leaders from roughly 50 nations in virtual attendance.
Austin praised the United Kingdom, Germany and Poland in particular for helping Ukraine boost its ability to hit faraway targets.
-ABC News’ Matt Seyler
Jul 19, 2:28 PM
Ukrainian first lady visits White House
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden greeted Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska at the White House Tuesday afternoon.
Zelenska was presented with a bouquet of flowers in Ukrainian colors: yellow sunflowers, blue hydrangeas and white orchids.
Oksana Markarova, the Ukrainian ambassador to the U.S., arrived with Zelenska.
Jill Biden and second gentleman Doug Emhoff then held a bilateral meeting with the Ukrainian delegation. Jill Biden said they'll discuss mental health issues for mothers and children who have "suffered such tragedy and the atrocities" during the war.
Zelenska will address Congress on Wednesday.
-ABC News' John Parkinson
Jul 19, 8:43 AM
US weapons help stabilize front line, Ukrainian official says
Ukrainian forces have "stabilized" the situation along the front line in the eastern and southeastern regions of the country, in large part thanks to U.S.-supplied HIMARS rocket launchers, the Ukrainian military said on Monday.
“We managed to stabilize the situation. It is complex, intense, but completely controlled,” Valery Zaluzhny, the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, said.
An important factor contributing to Ukraine's retention of its defensive lines and positions is the timely arrival of U.S. supplied M142 HIMARS -- High Mobility Artillery Rocket System -- rocket launchers, Zaluzhny added. These highly precise and modern weapons have been delivering “targeted strikes” on Russian “control points, ammunition and fuel storage depots,” the top commander added.
Ukrainian troops struck a Russian military facility in the area of an asphalt plant in the eastern town of Nova Kakhovka on Monday, Ukrainian military officials said. Ukrainian forces also hit an administrative building and a hangar filled with Russian fuel tankers in the southern town of Beryslav, killing more than 100 Russian soldiers, the Ukrainian military said on Monday.
Russian forces shelled the town of Nikopol in the Dnipropetrovsk region about 40 times on Monday night, local authorities said. Explosions were also reported in the Odesa region, injuring several civilians. Russian troops also fired cluster shells at the city of Mykolaiv late on Monday.
Russia's stated immediate objective is to seize all of the Donetsk region, the U.K. Ministry of Defense said on Tuesday. Even if Russian troops make further territorial gains, the tempo of their advance is likely to be very slow, the ministry added.
Russian units, severely under-manned, face a dilemma between deploying more forces to the Donbas or defending against Ukrainian counter-attacks in the Kherson area, the observers said.
-ABC News' Edward Szekeres, Yulia Drozd, Max Uzol and Yuriy Zaliznyak
Jul 18, 4:20 PM
Ukraine's first lady to meet with Jill Biden
Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska will meet with first lady Jill Biden in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Biden's office said, one day before Zelenska addresses Congress.
Jul 18, 1:45 PM
Ukraine's first lady to address Congress on Wednesday
Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska will make remarks Wednesday before members of Congress on Capitol Hill, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced.
All members of the House and Senate are invited to the event, which is set for 11 a.m ET.
