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.
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.
Here's how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Mar 18, 2022, 4:41 AM EDT
Lviv struck by missiles for the first time
Russian missiles have hit the western Ukrainian city of Lviv for the first time Friday, a key location that had been spared from the assault until now.
Smoke rises from a factory building near Lviv airport, in Lviv, Ukraine, March 18, 2022.
Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters
People walk as a cloud of smoke rises after an explosion near the airport, in Lviv, western Ukraine, March 18, 2022. The mayor of Lviv says missiles struck near the city's airport early Friday.
Ismail Coskun/IHA via AP
The missiles struck the area around the city's airport, according to the mayor, Andriy Sadovyi, around 6:30 a.m. local time, hitting an aircraft repair facility and destroying the building.
There were no immediate reports of casualties in the attack, according to the mayor.
Preliminary data indicated that six cruise missiles were fired from the Black Sea, according to the country's western military command. Two were destroyed by anti-aircraft missile systems.
-ABC News' Martha Raddatz
Mar 17, 2022, 8:34 PM EDT
White House 'focused' on ways to help growing Ukrainian refugee crisis
The Biden administration is "focused" on ways to help Ukrainian refugees, as the number of people displaced by the war continues to grow, according to U.S. officials.
More than 3 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia's invasion began, according to the United Nations' refugee agency, in Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II.
"As the numbers increase, as the burden increases for European partners, we will certainly do everything we can to help," Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters Thursday, adding it was "something we're very focused on right now."
A girl holds her sibling in a temporary shelter for Ukrainian refugees in a school in Przemysl, near the Ukrainian-Polish border, March 14, 2022.
Louisa Gouliamaki/AFP via Getty Images
Without offering specifics, Blinken confirmed the administration is "looking at things that we can do ourselves and do directly -- for example, looking at steps we may be able to take on family reunification and other things."
One limited option is fast-tracking the process to admit refugees to the U.S. itself, which is defined by law and requires a referral from the U.N.'s refugee agency and thorough vetting. A senior administration official told ABC News that the refugee program "is not an emergency response program, so our goal would be to provide humanitarian assistance to keep people safe where they are for now."
As Blinken told reporters, the referral process to be granted refugee status "takes time." Refugee resettlement is a yearslong process, and there are already 7,000 Ukrainian refugees in the pipeline, according to resettlement agency Church World Service.
The senior administration official also said U.S. embassies and consulates in the region are processing emergency visa applications, but that they are overwhelmed. "We are not able to process the volume of the people who are thinking about that as an option," the official said.
Refugee resettlement agencies say the administration is considering using the Lautenberg program, which allows religious minorities -- including Ukrainian Greek Catholics and Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Christians -- to bring family members to the U.S. with a potentially expedited refugee status. One agency told ABC News there are thousands of Ukrainian applicants who the U.S. could swiftly admit.
The administration has already approved temporary protected status for any Ukrainians in the U.S. before March 1 -- allowing them to stay and work in the U.S. for at least the next 18 months.
-ABC News' Ben Gittleson, Sarah Kolinovsky and Conor Finnegan
Mar 17, 2022, 7:31 PM EDT
State Department calls for consular access to Brittney Griner
State Department spokesperson Ned Price called on Russia to provide consular access to WNBA star and Olympic gold medalist Brittney Griner in an interview with ABC News Live Prime anchor Linsey Davis on Thursday.
In the weeks since her detention, U.S. officials from the embassy in Moscow have been unable to meet with her and "evaluate the conditions, her conditions, the conditions in which she is being detained and to provide all forms of support," Price said.
"The Russians are obligated to permit, to allow this type of consular access," Price added. "We're going to continue to insist that they allow us access to Brittney Griner just as we be permitted to access all Americans who are detained in Russia."
Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner is shown during the first half of Game 2 of basketball's WNBA Finals against the Chicago Sky, Oct. 13, 2021, in Phoenix.
Rick Scuteri/AP, FILE
Another State Department spokesperson confirmed to ABC News that Griner is in pretrial detention, and that Russia must provide consular access in those circumstances.
The State Department has been "in constant contact" with Griner's legal team and the WNBA, Price said.
Griner, who plays for the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury as well as in Russia, was arrested last month at a Moscow airport after Russian authorities said they found vape cartridges in her luggage.
Her detention has been extended to May 19, the Russian news agency TASS reported Thursday.
-ABC News' Conor Finnegan and Tanya Stukalova
Mar 17, 2022, 8:36 PM EDT
US citizen killed in Chernihiv, Ukraine
A U.S. citizen was killed Thursday in Chernihiv in northern Ukraine, a State Department official confirmed to ABC News, after Chernihiv regional police reported an American was killed by Russian shelling.
The State Department official did not provide more details.
Jimmy Hill is pictured in a social media image posted on June 22, 2013.
Facebook
The American was identified by Ukrainian officials as 68-year-old James Whitney Hill. He was killed in an artillery strike, according to Anton Gerashenko, an adviser to the Ukrainian Interior Ministry.
Hill's sister, Katya Hill, also confirmed to ABC News that her brother was killed in Chernihiv.
-ABC News' Conor Finnegan, Patrick Reevell and Chris Looft
