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.
Here's how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Feb 22, 2022, 1:04 PM EST
Russia says it will evacuate its embassy staff from Ukraine
Russia’s Foreign Ministry announced Tuesday it will begin evacuating its personnel from its embassy in Ukraine in "the very nearest time," according to Russian state news agencies.
RIA Novosti reported that the foreign ministry has claimed its staff received threats and that Ukraine has not reacted to them, while Ukrainian officials have maintained that Russia is the aggressor on the ground.
-ABC News' Patrick Reevell
Feb 22, 2022, 12:19 PM EST
Russian forces have moved into Ukraine: NATO Secretary-General
In a press briefing at NATO headquarters in Brussels, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg urged Russia to "choose the path of diplomacy," as he said that Russia's aggressive behavior towards Ukraine marks "the most dangerous moment in European security in a generation."
Stoltenberg said that there is evidence that Russia has already entered Ukraine, going as far as saying that Russia has been in Donbas since 2014 in what he considers "covert" operations. He said Russia has now moved from "covert attempts to destabilize Ukraine to overt military action."
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg gives a press conference prior to a meeting of NATO defense ministers on the current Russia-West tensions at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Feb. 16, 2022.
Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP via Getty Images
Russia has deployed over 150,000 troops, fighter jets and attack helicopters in Ukraine and Belarus and along the Russia-Ukraine border, with troops "in the field and ready to attack," according to Stoltenberg, while NATO allies have deployed more troops in Romania, Estonia, and Lithuania, and more than 120 ships and over 100 jets are on "high alert." The NATO response force is on "high readiness," but has not been deployed.
Stoltenberg said that it is "never too late not to attack," and that options for diplomacy are still available to Russia, even despite Putin's "threatening rhetoric" in his address to the public Monday. "We are ready to talk," said Stoltenberg, as NATO continues to look for a "political path forward."
Russian President Vladimir Putin held a press conference on the situation around Ukraine following the Russian Parliament granting him permission to use military force outside of the country Tuesday.
Putin warned Russia was ready to provide "military assistance" to the two separatist self-proclaimed republics in eastern Ukraine and send troops there "in the case of necessity," claiming that a "conflict" was continuing on the ground, while Ukrainian officials have said Russia is the aggressor there.
"As a conflict is happening there, in the case of necessity we are determined to carry out of our obligations we have taken on," Putin said.
In a significant statement, Putin said that Russia recognizes the separatists' larger territorial claims, which would include the whole of Ukraine's Donbas region, not just the area they currently hold -- declaring the Minsk agreements to no longer exist.
He added that Western countries should now agree to the "demilitarization" of Ukraine and repeated it would be best if Ukraine publicly renounced its ambitions now to join NATO.
-ABC News' Patrick Reevell
Feb 22, 2022, 11:57 AM EST
Putin granted permission to deploy military force outside Russia
Russia's upper house of parliament voted unanimously on Tuesday to grant Russian President Vladimir Putin permission to deploy military force outside of the country -- in a move that could signal military forces being deployed beyond the Russian-backed separatist regions.
The vote comes after Putin recognized the independence of two separatist regions in eastern Ukraine on Monday, escalating fears the Russian leader is paving the way for a larger invasion.
Russian lawmakers attend a session of the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, to consider approving friendship treaties with two self-proclaimed people's republics in eastern Ukraine, in Moscow, Russia, Feb. 22, 2022.
Russian State Duma via Reuters
The Russian leader is currently speaking following the Federal Council granting him permission.
Western leaders have condemned Putin’s decision and warned of imposing more economic sanctions if Russia attacks Ukraine.
