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 26, 2022, 12:19 PM EST
What US will provide Ukraine in new $350M military aid package
The new package of $350 million in assistance to Ukraine will include “anti-armor, small arms and various munitions, body armor, and related equipment in support of Ukraine’s front-line defenders facing down Russia’s unprovoked attack," Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said.
It also includes portable surface-to-air missiles (MANPADS) in the Pentagon's inventory, a U.S. official told ABC News.
It's not clear how the equipment will be provided to the Ukrainian military. The U.S. official said they can't speak to logistics or timing, but said, "Time is clearly of the essence, so we expect deliveries to start very soon."
This brings total U.S. security assistance approved for Ukraine in the last year to $1 billion.
-ABC News' Luis Martinez, Conor Finnegan
Feb 26, 2022, 11:54 AM EST
Over 150,000 have crossed from Ukraine to neighboring countries
Over 150,000 Ukrainians have crossed into neighboring countries, according to Filippo Grandi, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.
Ukrainian refugees cry as they reunite at the Medyka border crossing, Poland, Feb. 26, 2022.
Visar Kryeziu/AP
Ukrainian refugees walk along vehicles lining-up to cross the border from Ukraine into Moldova, at Mayaky-Udobne crossing border point near Mayaky-Udobne, Ukraine, Feb. 26, 2022.
Sergei Grits/AP
Poland's Deputy Interior Minister Pawel Szefernaker told reporters 100,000 people have crossed from Ukraine into Poland.
An American couple embrace after crossing the border in Medyka, Poland and fleeing the violence in Ukraine, Feb. 24, 2022.
Bryan Woolston/Reuters
People fleeing the conflict in Ukraine arrive at Przemysl train station in Przemysl, Poland, on Friday, Feb. 25, 2022.
Petr David Josek/AP
For those still in Ukraine, a stricter curfew has been enacted in Kyiv, instructing residents to stay home from 5 p.m. Saturday until 8 a.m. Monday.
Feb 26, 2022, 11:26 AM EST
Russians frustrated by lack of momentum: US official
The Russians have launched more than 250 missiles, mostly short-range ballistic type, a senior defense official told reporters Saturday.
"We continue to see civilian infrastructure and residential areas impacted and damaged by these missile strikes," the official said.
Though Russian troops are about 30 kilometers north of Kyiv, Russian forces continue to meet more Ukrainian resistance than expected and have failed to take any cities so far, the official said.
Ukrainian service members look for and collect unexploded shells after a fighting with Russians in Kyiv in the morning, Feb. 26, 2022.
Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images
Ukrainian soldiers take positions outside a military facility after an explosion in Kyiv, Ukraine, Feb. 26, 2022.
Emilio Morenatti/AP
"We have indications that the Russians are increasingly frustrated by their lack of momentum over the last 24 hours, particularly in the north parts of Ukraine," the official said. "We continue to see indications of viable Ukrainian resistance."
"We still believe that Russia has yet to achieve air superiority. Ukrainian air defenses, including aircraft do continue to be operable and continue to engage and deny access to Russian aircraft in places over the country," the official said.
The official said Russian forces are meeting less resistance in the south and are having more success there than the north.
The official said several thousand Russian troops went ashore in Friday's amphibious assault from the Sea of Azov to the west of Mariupol, and they're now heading northeast toward Donbas.
"The Russians are continuing to try to advance on Kherson" in southern Ukraine, the official added.
The mayor of the southern city of Mykolayiv warned on live TV of an immediate fall of the city to Russian forces.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday Ukraine is “successfully repelling” Russia’s attacks and that Kyiv and its outskirts are under the control of the Ukrainian military.
In a televised address, Zelenskyy said Russia had hoped to install a puppet government in Kyiv but that “we broke their plans.”
“The fighting goes on in many cities of our state, but we know we are defending our country, our land, and our childrens' future,” he said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks about current situation in Kyiv, Feb. 26, 2022.
Ukrainian Presidential Press Service via Reuters
Zelenskyy said the Russian forces are being “severely repulsed” in every city under attack and that in fighting around Kyiv Russia “didn’t gain any advantage,” despite attacking with missiles, fighter jets, drones, artillery, armored vehicles, saboteurs and paratroopers.
So far Ukrainian troops do appear to have managed to hold the Russian forces at bay in intense fighting near Kyiv and in cities in the north, east and south of the country. Russian forces have advanced close to several cities but except for the southern city of Melitopol do not yet appear to have advanced into them.
Zelensky also said that the international "anti-war coalition is working,” saying Ukraine now has the support of most EU countries to cut Russia off from the SWIFT banking system. He then said he hopes Germany and Hungary will agree, suggesting for now they still have not.
Ukrainian soldiers take positions outside a military facility as two cars burn in a street in Kyiv, Ukraine, Feb. 26, 2022.
Emilio Morenatti/AP
He also again called on ordinary Russians, seeking their help in stopping the war.
“Now I want to be heard in Russia. By absolutely everyone. Thousands of deaths, hundreds of captured, who just can't grasp what they have been sent to Ukraine for to die and to kill others,” Zelenskyy said. “The faster you tell your authority that the war must be stopped immediately, the more your people will stay alive.”
