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 23, 2022, 7:08 PM EST

Ukrainian president posts video, says he tried to call Putin but got ‘silence’

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy gave an impassioned televised address, in which he said Ukraine doesn’t want war and rejected Russia’s claims that Ukraine is a threat or home to Nazism.

Zelenskyy said he tried to call Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday. “The result -- silence,” he said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy makes a direct appeal to the Russian people to prevent a Russian invasion of Ukraine in an address posted to Telegram, Feb. 23, 2022.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy via Facebook

Zelenskyy spoke in Russian for part of the address to appeal directly to the Russian people.

“We don’t need war. Not a cold one, nor a hot one, nor a hybrid one,” Zelenskyy said.

“We are separated by more than 2,000 kilometers of shared border. Along it today stand your troops, almost 200,000 soldiers, thousands of military vehicles,” he added. “Your leadership has approved their step forward, onto the territory of another country. And this step can become the start of a big war on the European continent," he said.

-ABC News' Patrick Reevell

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

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