President Vladimir Putin said he'd sought an "open dialogue" with the West.
Almost a year after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine, the two countries are engaged in a struggle for control of areas throughout the east and south.
Putin's forces pulled out of key positions in November, retreating from Kherson as Ukrainian troops led a counteroffensive targeting the southern port city. Russian drones have continued bombarding civilian targets throughout Ukraine, knocking out critical power infrastructure as winter sets in.
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Three people have been killed and 13 are injured from a Russian missile strike on a residential building in Kryvyi Rih in central Ukraine, according to the mayor.
Among those killed is a mom whose child is missing.
-ABC News' Will Gretsky
Following an overnight barrage of strikes from Russia into Ukraine, the White House announced that the first round of $53 million worth of energy-related equipment and technical support has arrived in Ukraine.
“It includes the kinds of equipment that they need to make emergency repairs such as relays and busbars and surge arrestors, disconnectors, circuit breakers,” White House spokesperson John Kirby told reporters Friday.
Kirby said more aid will be delivered “in coming weeks” to fulfill the full pledge.
"The United States remains committed to helping Ukraine put the put the lights back on and put the heat back on, and try to alleviate some of the suffering of the Ukrainian people that they're already experiencing in the winter months,” he said.
-ABC News’ Justin Ryan Gomez
Russia has launched another wave of missile strikes on energy infrastructure sites across Ukraine, resulting in severe power outages in large parts of the country.
There have been least three explosions in Kyiv by early Friday morning while other cities, including Kryvi Rih, Kharkiv, Dnipro and Zaporizhe, have also been targeted this morning, ABC News has learned.
According to officials in Kryvi Rih, a residential building has been hit. Details on possible casualties are still emerging.
Officials in Kharkiv say there have been at least three explosions there and reports suggest Ukraine’s second city is completely without power.
There are shortages of running water in Kyiv right now and a large part of the city is without power.
Initial information suggests Russia has fired dozens of missiles and Ukraine’s air defenses have been operating. It's likely many missiles have been shot down but some have clearly found their targets.
It's currently unclear if Russia used drones in the waves of strikes this morning.
Russia's foreign ministry spokesperson offered an angry response to reports that the United States is preparing to send Patriot air defense missiles to Ukraine.
During a news conference Thursday, Maria Zakharova said that if media leaks are true, the move by the White House "would be another provocative step."
"Given the increasing amounts of direct U.S. military assistance, including the presence of U.S. servicemen on the ground, the delivery of equipment of such complexity, the operation of which requires months of training, will signify a broader involvement of U.S. career servicemen in the hostilities with all the ensuing consequences," Zakharova said.
Two U.S. officials have confirmed to ABC News that the United States has prepared plans to send Patriot air defense missile systems to Ukraine that could be approved by President Joe Biden by the end of this week.
If approved by Biden, the transfer of the advanced air defense systems would meet a long-standing request from Ukraine.
"We strongly recommend that the decision-makers in Washington finally listen [...] and draw the right conclusions from our repeated warnings that any weapon systems delivered to Ukraine, including Patriot, and the respective personnel, have been and remain legitimate priority targets of the Russian Armed Forces," Zakharova said.
