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 26, 2022, 5:56 PM EST

Kyiv under curfew as it braces for Russian forces

Kyiv, which was a bustling, relaxed city three days ago, has now transformed to a war-time city as it braces for Russian forces.

Kyiv's mayor has imposed a 39-hour curfew beginning Saturday night, banning everyone except critical infrastructure workers from the streets. Ukrainian authorities say the curfew is to allow the city to hunt down Russian sabotage groups, get defenses organized and prevent friendly-fire incidents.

Ukrainian soldiers patrol a street in Kyiv, Ukraine, Feb. 26, 2022.
Efrem Lukatsky/AP

A deserted street is seen after Russia launched a massive military operation against Ukraine, in Kyiv, Feb. 26, 2022.
Umit Bektas/Reuters

Checkpoints manned by tense, heavily armed Ukrainian soldiers are set up throughout Kyiv and authorities are setting up barricades.

The city’s lights have been dimmed, leaving an eerie silence, only punctured by the howls of air raid sirens or blasts of gunfire.

Since Friday morning there has been fighting in Kyiv's northern neighborhoods. For two nights, missiles have struck targets around Kyiv. Hundreds of people have begun sheltering in the deep subway system, sleeping on the platforms.

This general view shows damage to the upper floors of a building in Kyiv, Ukraine, Feb. 26, 2022, after it was reportedly struck by a Russian rocket.
Daniel Leal/AFP via Getty Images

-ABC News' Patrick Reevell

Feb 26, 2022, 3:26 PM EST

Russian forces: 'We don’t know who to shoot, they all look like us'

A senior U.S. official told ABC News they've heard a Russian soldier on a radio call saying, “We don’t know who to shoot -- they all look like us.”

The official also said some Russian forces are disoriented, realizing the battles against Ukrainians are harder than they thought.

Ukrainian soldiers take positions outside a military facility as two cars burn in a street in Kyiv, Ukraine, Feb. 26, 2022.
Emilio Morenatti/AP

-ABC News' Martha Raddatz

Feb 26, 2022, 3:12 PM EST

Germany drops opposition to sending lethal aid

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has announced that Germany is dropping its historic position of not providing lethal military aid to conflict zones, saying Russia's "invasion marks a turning point."

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks with the media as he arrives for an extraordinary EU summit on Ukraine at the European Council building in Brussels, Feb 24, 2022.
John Thys/Pool via AP

Germany will provide 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 Stinger missiles, he said. 

The Netherlands is also announcing new lethal aid, according to its Defense Ministry. 

The $350 million military aid package from the U.S. 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. The U.S. package also includes portable surface-to-air missiles (MANPADS) in the Pentagon's inventory, a U.S. official told ABC News.

Ukrainian soldiers handle equipment outside Kharkiv, Ukraine, Feb. 26, 2022.
Andrew Marienko/AP

-ABC News' Conor Finnegan

Feb 26, 2022, 2:56 PM EST

Ukrainians waiting 40 hours to cross border: UN

At a border crossing near Zosin, Poland -- due west of Kyiv -- Ukrainians are waiting for 40 hours to cross into Poland in a nearly 10-mile backlog, said Chris Meltzer of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Meltzer said one woman with her two children told him it took her 12 hours to get out of Kyiv and then they spent another 38 hours waiting in their car without heat or a bathroom.

He said the biggest needs are blankets, clothes and accommodations.

A woman walks with her dogs after arriving from Ukraine, crossing the border in Beregsurany, Hungary, Feb 26, 2022. Hungary has extended legal protection to those fleeing the Russian invasion.
Anna Szilagyi/AP

Meltzer said, once they cross, most Ukrainians are staying in the border region because they want to return home as soon as possible.

A Ukrainian woman holds her child as they wait to enter Romania after crossing the Danube river at the Isaccea-Orlivka border crossing point between Romania and Ukraine, Feb. 25, 2022.
Daniel Mihailescu/AFP via Getty Images

-ABC News' Cindy Smith

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