Russia-Ukraine updates: US to ban Russian carriers from its airspace

Biden will announce the news in his State of the Union address, a source said.

ByMorgan Winsor, Libby Cathey, Meredith Deliso, Nadine El-Bawab, Emily Shapiro, Julia Jacobo, Ivan Pereira, Mark Osborne, Celia Darrough, Kevin Shalvey, and Bill Hutchinson
Last Updated: March 22, 2022, 4:04 AM EDT

Russian forces are continuing their attempted push through Ukraine from multiple directions, while Ukrainians, led by President Volodymr Zelenskyy, are putting up "stiff resistance," according to U.S. officials.

The attack began Feb. 24 as Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a "special military operation."

Russians moving from Belarus towards Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, don't appear to have advanced closer towards the city since coming within about 20 miles, although smaller advanced groups have been fighting gun battles with Ukrainian forces inside the capital since at least Friday.

Russia has been met by sanctions from the U.S., Canada and countries throughout Europe, targeting Russia's economy and Putin himself.

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Feb 22, 2022, 5:10 AM EST

US embassy staff return to Ukraine after spending night in Poland

U.S. embassy staff who remained in Ukraine will return to the country on Tuesday after spending the night in Poland amid fears of a Russian invasion, a senior U.S. official told ABC News.

Personnel will return to the city of Lviv in western Ukraine, where they had relocated operations from the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. But they are poised to move back to Poland at any point, the official said.

-ABC News' Martha Raddatz

Feb 22, 2022, 4:58 AM EST

Russia-backed separatists claim Ukraine is still staging attacks

Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine have continued to accuse Ukrainian government forces of attacks.

The separatists in a breakaway region known as Donbas made another unverified claim Tuesday morning that three civilians were killed by a roadside bomb.

Separatist leaders posted photographs of a burned-out minivan on a road in their territory that they alleged was the vehicle blown up by a Ukrainian "diversionary group." The claim is unverified and resembles other allegations that have been rapidly debunked.

PHOTO: A tank drives along a street in the separatist-controlled city of Donetsk, Ukraine, Feb. 22, 2022.
A tank drives along a street in the separatist-controlled city of Donetsk, Ukraine, on Feb. 22, 2022, after Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized two Russia-backed separatist areas in eastern Ukraine as independent and ordered the deployment of Russian troops.
Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters

Meanwhile, a top separatist military commander accused Ukrainian government forces of continuing to shell the area.

The latest claims raise the possibility that Russia is still building a pretext to launch an attack on Ukrainian government troops, even after recognizing the self-proclaimed People's Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk as independent.

-ABC News' Patrick Reevell

Feb 22, 2022, 4:33 AM EST

'World cannot be silent,' Ukrainian defense minister warns

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov took to Twitter early Tuesday to dismiss Moscow's recognition of the Russian-controlled breakaway areas in eastern Ukraine, saying the move amounts only to a recognition of the Kremlin’s "own aggression."

"We remain confident and calm," Reznikov tweeted. "We are ready and able to defend ourselves and our sovereignty."

But he also issued a warning: "World cannot be silent."

"Sanctions?" he tweeted. "Another brick in the wall? New Berlin Wall?"

Feb 22, 2022, 2:54 AM EST

Putin's recognition of separatists' independence is 'shameful act,' Blinken says

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken early Tuesday called Russia's move to recognize separatist regions in Ukraine as independent a "predictable" act. 

"Russia’s move to recognize the 'independence' of so-called republics controlled by its own proxies is a predictable, shameful act," he said on Twitter. 

Blinken is scheduled to meet Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in Washington on Tuesday.

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