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 25, 2022, 5:43 AM EST

Gunfire, explosions heard within Kyiv as fighting draws near

ABC News' team in Kyiv saw a large explosion and heard intense gunfire in the distance early Friday afternoon.

The crackles of gunfire appeared to be several miles north of the center of the Ukrainian capital, but still well within the city limits.

Servicemen of the National Guard of Ukraine take positions in central Kyiv on Feb. 25, 2022.
Gleb Garanich/Reuters

Ukrainian authorities have told residents in the northern suburb of Obolon to take shelter and prepare for imminent military action. The area is a 10-minute drive from Kyiv's center.

The capital remains on edge as Russian forces draw near. Earlier, Ukrainian troops were seen hurriedly moving with ammunition to set up positions in the city center as air-raid sirens rang out.

Servicemen of the National Guard of Ukraine take positions in central Kyiv on Feb. 25, 2022.
Gleb Garanich/Reuters

Thousands of people have tried to leave Kyiv and head west to the Polish border, with some spending hours stuck in long traffic jams.

The Ukrainian military said it has distributed 18,000 assault rifles to territorial defense volunteers in the capital. It has also begun handing out weapons to civilians who want to fight and has called on healthy men over the age 60 to join the defense force, if they wish.

-ABC News' Patrick Reevell

Feb 25, 2022, 5:11 AM EST

Ukrainian military claims to have killed Russian saboteurs in Kyiv

Ukraine's military claimed Friday to have killed an advance group of Russian saboteurs disguised as Ukrainian soldiers during a gunfight in the capital, Kyiv.

The Ukrainian military released video purportedly showing the bodies of men in Ukrainian uniforms and a destroyed truck. The fighting allegedly happened in an area only 10 minutes north of the city center.

Russian forces that crossed into Ukraine from the north on Thursday have been trying to advance south toward Kyiv. Fighting was taking place near a town 20 miles north of the entrance to the capital on Friday morning, ABC News has learned.

-ABC News' Patrick Reevell

Feb 25, 2022, 4:33 AM EST

Residents report shelling less than 20 miles from Kyiv

Russian forces pushing deeper into Ukraine appear to be closing in on the capital.

Residents of Dymer, about 20 miles north of Kyiv, told ABC News on Friday morning that they can hear shelling.

A woman carries her cat as she walks near Kyiv-Pasazhyrskyi railway station in Kyiv, Ukraine, Feb. 24, 2022, after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a military operation in Ukraine.
Daniel Leal/AFP via Getty Images

Meanwhile, Ukrainian troops have still not managed to retake control of a key military airport on the edge of the capital that was seized by Russian forces on Thursday. The threat to Kyiv remains extremely high, as Russian tanks and armoured vehicles head toward the city while Ukrainian forces continue to try to block them.

Explosions were heard to the east of Kyiv on Friday morning.

-ABC News' Patrick Reevell

Feb 25, 2022, 1:46 AM EST

Rocket hits residential building in Kyiv, authorities say

At least eight people were injured after a rocket struck a residential building in a suburb of Kyiv early Friday as invading Russian forces closed in on Ukraine's capital, authorities said.

In a statement on his official Telegram account, Kyiv Mayor Vitaly Klitschko said ambulances were taking people to the hospital and that the preliminary number of wounded was three, including one in critical condition. But a later statement posted by Ukraine's State Emergency Service on its official Facebook account said eight people were injured, 20 were rescued and 150 were evacuated.

A view of a damaged residential building at Koshytsa Street, a suburb of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, early on Feb. 25, 2022, as invading Russian forces pressed deep into Ukraine.
Ukraine Emergency Ministry Press Service/Handout/AFP via Getty Images

Natali Sevriukova reacts as she stands next to her home following a rocket attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Feb. 25, 2022.
Emilio Morenatti/AP

ABC News' team in Kyiv reported hearing air-raid sirens and explosions in the early morning hours.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned in a televised address early Friday that Russian airstrikes "don't distinguish in which regions to act" and are attacking residential areas, including in the capital.

"They say they don't target civilian objects. That's not true," Zelenskyy said.

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