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

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.

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Apr 19, 2022, 12:51 PM EDT

Polish prime minister opens temporary housing community in Ukraine

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki visited western Ukraine Tuesday to mark the opening of a temporary housing community his country donated for Ukrainians displaced by the war.

“This is short term container housing. Conditions here are typically temporary, just for those people who just have nowhere to go,” Morawiecki said during his visit to Lviv.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki speaks during a press conference in Warsaw, Poland, April 14, 2022.
Piotr Nowak/EPA-EFE via Shutterstock

Morawiecki said Polish teams would also be going to Bucha and Kyiv Tuesday to build more temporary houses.

“Russia is not only ruining all foundations of people’s life in Ukraine, it burns everything to plain concrete and only smoke and ash remains," Morawiecki said.

The prime minister said nearly 10 million people have been forced to leave their homes in Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion on Feb. 24 and 2.5 million of the displaced residents have sought refuge in Poland.

"But we have to remember that approximately 6 million are still staying somewhere in Ukraine," Morawiecki said.

-ABC News' Yuri Zalizniak

Apr 19, 2022, 11:47 AM EDT

Canada extends Russian sanctions to include Putin's 2 daughters

Canada's Foreign Ministry announced Tuesday new restrictions will be imposed on 14 close associates of the Russian regime, including Russian oligarchs, their family members and the two adult daughters of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The move come after the United States imposed sanctions April 6 on Putin's daughters, Katerina Vladimirovna Tikhonova and Maria Vladimirovna Vorontsova. A senior Biden administration official said there was reason to believe that Putin and his associates hide their wealth with family members and that was the reason they were being targeted.

PHOTO: Leading researcher at the National Medical Research Center for Endocrinology of the Russian Health Ministry Maria Vorontsova talks at an event in St. Petersburg, Oct. 13, 2021.  Vorontsova has been referred to as Vladimir Putin's daughter.
Leading researcher at the National Medical Research Center for Endocrinology of the Russian Health Ministry Maria Vorontsova talks to the media at the Eurasian Women's Forum in St. Petersburg, Russia, Oct. 13, 2021. Vorontsova has been referred to as Vladimir Putin's daughter.
Ekaterina Chesnokova/Sputnik via AP, FILE

PHOTO: Katerina Tikhonova, deputy director of Institute for Mathematical Research of Complex Systems, Moscow University and daughter of President Vladimir Putin, is seen on a screen as she participates in a forum in Saint Petersburg, Russia, June 4, 2021.
Katerina Tikhonova, deputy director of the Institute for Mathematical Research of Complex Systems at Moscow State University and daughter of Russian President Vladimir Putin, is seen on a screen as she takes part in a session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in Saint Petersburg, Russia, June 4, 2021.
Evgenia Novozhenina/Reuters, FILE

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, Canada has imposed sanctions on more than 750 individuals and entities from Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.

Canada has referred the situation in Ukraine to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in concert with other ICC member states as a result of numerous allegations of serious international crimes alleged against Russian forces in Ukraine, including war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Apr 19, 2022, 10:51 AM EDT

Russia claims US, Western countries are dragging out war in Ukraine

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has accused the United States and other Western countries of doing everything in their power to drag out Russia's so-called special military operation in neighboring Ukraine.

"The increasing volume of foreign arms supplies clearly demonstrates their intentions to provoke the Kyiv regime to fight to the last Ukrainian standing," Shoigu told officials during a televised meeting Tuesday.

Shoigu said it is important Russia continue improving its armed forces in light of recent events in Ukraine.

Shoigu added that the Russian army is "fulling the tasks set by the commander-in-chief." He said a new offensive in eastern Ukraine's disputed Donbas region is "being consistently implemented, and measure are being taken to establish a peaceful life."

-ABC News Christina Theodorou

Apr 19, 2022, 10:35 AM EDT

Russian shelling leaves 3 dead, 16 wounded in Kharkiv

At least three civilians were killed and 16 others wounded Tuesday by Russian shelling in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, according to the regional governor.

PHOTO: A police officer checks the pulse of a civilian who was killed in a residential area hit by the Russian artillery shelling, in Kharkiv, northeast Ukraine, April 19, 2022.
A police officer checks the pulse of a civilian who was killed in a residential area hit by the Russian artillery shelling, in Kharkiv, northeast Ukraine, April 19, 2022. Kharkiv and its surrounding areas have been heavily shelled by Russian forces, causing many civilians deaths, since the invasion of Ukraine in late February.
Roman Pilipey/EPA via Shutterstock

Kharkiv Oblast Gov. Oleg Sinegubov said Russian forces were using multiple-launch rocket systems on the northeastern city from a roughly 25-mile distance.

-ABC News' Iryna Hnatiuk

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