Russia-Ukraine updates: US sanctions Russian military shipbuilder, diamond miner

Russia's largest military shipbuilding and diamond mining firms were targeted.

ByMorgan Winsor, Emily Shapiro, Nadine El-Bawab, Ivan Pereira, Julia Jacobo, Meredith Deliso, Bill Hutchinson, Kevin Shalvey, Celia Darrough, Mary Kekatos, and Samara Lynn
Last Updated: April 8, 2022, 4:34 AM EDT

Russian President Vladimir Putin's "special military operation” into Ukraine began on Feb. 24, with troops crossing the border from Belarus and Russia. Moscow's forces have since been met with “stiff resistance” from Ukrainians, according to U.S. officials.

Russian forces retreated last week from the Kyiv suburbs, leaving behind a trail of destruction. After graphic images emerged of civilians lying dead in the streets of Bucha, U.S. and European officials accused Russian troops of committing war crimes.

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Two Men at War

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Latest headlines:

Here's how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Mar 17, 2022, 12:35 PM EDT

Biden calls Putin's actions 'inhumane' in talk with Irish Taoiseach

During a virtual bilat with Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin on Thursday, President Joe Biden said the world is "united" as Russia's invasion in Ukraine continues.

“We have to be united and we certainly are,” Biden said. “But Putin’s brutality and what he's doing, and his troops are doing in Ukraine, is just inhumane."

Black smoke rises into the sky from the Barabashovo market - one of the largest markets in the eastern Europe after being reportedly hit by shelling, in Kharkiv, March 17, 2022.
Sergey Bobok/AFP via Getty Images

A man injured in a bombing lies on a stretcher at a hospital hallway during an air raid alarm in Brovary, north of Kyiv, Ukraine, March 17, 2022.
Felipe Dana/AP

The Taoiseach told Biden, “I share with you our horror at the barbaric attack on the civilians,” and said Biden’s leadership through this has been “firm,” “determined" and “strong.”

Biden commended Ireland for taking in Ukrainian refugees, saying it "speaks so loudly about your principles."

President Joe Biden meets virtually with Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin in the Oval Office of the White House, March 17, 2022, in Washington, D.C. Martin tested positive for COVID-19 Wednesday.
Patrick Semansky/AP

-ABC News' Justin Ryan Gomez

Mar 17, 2022, 8:49 AM EDT

Biden to speak with Chinese President Xi on Friday

President Joe Biden will speak to Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday about “Russia’s war against Ukraine,” among other topics, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement.

It’s the first time the two will speak since Russia’s invasion began and it follows National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan’s seven-hour face-to-face meeting in Rome with his Chinese counterpart earlier this week.

The U.S. has been ramping up its warnings to China over concerns that it could assist Moscow with military equipment and other aid.

-ABC News' Justin Ryan Gomez

Mar 17, 2022, 6:59 AM EDT

Russia 'stalled on all fronts,' UK military says

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has “largely stalled on all fronts,” the U.K. Ministry of Defence said on Thursday.

“Russian forces have made minimal progress on land, sea or air in recent days and they continue to suffer heavy losses,” the Ministry said in an update posted to Twitter.

A member of the Ukrainian military surveys an area next to a residential building that was hit by an intercepted missile, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, in Kyiv, Ukraine, March 17, 2022.
Thomas Peter/Reuters

The Ukrainian resistance “remains staunch and well-coordinated,” the update said.

“The vast majority of Ukrainian territory, including all major cities, remain in Ukrainian hands,” the Ministry said.

Mar 16, 2022, 9:00 PM EDT

Theater sheltering civilians hit by Russian airstrikes, Ukrainian official says

A Ukrainian official claimed Wednesday that Russian airstrikes destroyed a theater in the besieged city of Mariupol where civilians were taking shelter.

A view shows Donetsk Regional Theatre of Drama destroyed by an airstrike, in Mariupol, Ukraine, March 16, 2022.
Donetsk Regional Administration via Reuters

The number of victims from the bombing of the Donetsk Regional Theatre of Drama "is impossible to count," Pavlo Kyrylenko, head of the Donetsk Region administration, said in a Facebook post.

A view shows Donetsk Regional Theatre of Drama destroyed by an airstrike, in Mariupol, Ukraine, March 16, 2022.
Donetsk Regional Administration via Reuters

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during an address tonight that hundreds of people were hiding in the theater and that the death toll is still unknown.

"Russia is killing civilians!" Kyrylenko said, adding that it is also "impossible to determine" the number of victims in Mariupol since the start of the invasion.

A satellite image shows the Mariupol Drama Theatre before being bombing, with the word "children" in Russian written in large white letters on the pavement in front of and behind the building, in Mariupol, Ukraine, March 14, 2022.
Maxar Technologies

The city has been burying its dead in a mass grave on the outskirts of Mariupol as it endures heavy shelling.

-ABC News' Christine Theodorou

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