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 23, 2022, 5:57 PM EST
No fly notice issued for Ukraine airport near Russian border
A no fly notice was issued for an airport in Kharkiv, a city in eastern Ukraine only 20 miles from Russia.
The Notice to Air Mission (NOTAM) will close the airport until 8:30 a.m. Thursday.
The move comes after the Ukrainian military told leaders that Russia may target Kharkiv in an attack, according to sources.
Satellite imagery shows Russian troop deployments less than 50 miles from the city.
-ABC News' Kirit Radia
Feb 23, 2022, 5:53 PM EST
Ukraine requests urgent UN Security Council meeting
Ukraine has requested an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council in response to the appeal made by Russian-controlled separatists for military help from Russia.
“Ukraine has requested an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council due to the appeal by Russian occupation administrations in Donetsk and Luhansk to Russia with a request to provide them with military assistance, which is a further escalation of the security situation,” Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted.
-ABC News' Patrick Reevell
Feb 23, 2022, 5:08 PM EST
US embassy in Moscow to remain open
State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters the U.S. is not planning to draw down its embassy in Moscow.
"It will be our goal to be in a position to maintain diplomatic communication, the ability to convey clearly any messages that we need to send to the Russian Federation. Embassies are an important tool in that," he said.
Price had no comment on whether Ukraine should sever diplomatic ties with Russia and said it's their choice.
-ABC News' Conor Finnegan
Feb 23, 2022, 4:40 PM EST
Separatists appeal to Putin for military assistance, White House pushes back
Russian-controlled separatists have formally appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin for military assistance "in repulsing Ukrainian aggression", according to the Kremlin's spokesman.
In a letter, the separatist leaders invoked the mutual defense pact Russia signed with them after recognizing them.
Ukrainian officials, meanwhile, have maintained that Russia is the aggressor on the ground.
Asked by ABC News reporter Ike Ejiochi whether the formal request from the separatists to Putin was a signal that the U.S. expects a broader invasion is about to begin, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said it was "an example" of "a range of false flag operations" the U.S. had expected.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki speaks during a briefing in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, Feb. 23, 2022.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images
"As we've said from the beginning, there are going to be a range of false flag operations that we have expected to and laid out the playbook to see," Psaki said during her on-cam briefing this afternoon. "This is an example of it."
"That is suggesting that they feel under threat by whom? The Ukrainians that the Russians are threatening to attack," she continued. "So we'll continue to call out what we see as false flag operations or efforts to spread disinformation about what the actual status is on the ground."
