Russia-Ukraine updates: US to ban Russian carriers from its airspace

The White House announced further sanctions on Russia Saturday evening.

The U.S., along with the European Commission, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and Canada, are disconnecting some Russian banks from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) banking network and are "imposing restrictive measures that will prevent the Russian Central Bank from deploying its international reserves in ways that undermine the impact of our sanctions," the White House said.

"This will ensure that these banks are disconnected from the international financial system and harm their ability to operate globally," the White House said in a statement.

The White House added, "We commit to taking measures to limit the sale of citizenship -- so called golden passports -- that let wealthy Russians connected to the Russian government become citizens of our countries and gain access to our financial systems."

The U.S. will also launch a trans-Atlantic task force "that will ensure the effective implementation of our financial sanctions by identifying and freezing the assets of sanctioned individuals and companies that exist within our jurisdictions."

On a call with reporters Saturday night, a senior administration official said the move to sanction the central bank will show that Russia's defense of claiming that sanctions don't hurt their economy "is a myth."

"The 600 billion-plus war chest of Russia's foreign reserves is only powerful if Putin can use it," the official said. "And without being able to buy the ruble from Western financial institutions, for example, Putin and the central bank will lose the ability to offset the impact of our sanctions. The ruble will fall even further, inflation will spike and the central bank will be left defenseless."

The Biden administration said it's also upping the fight against disinformation and "other forms of hybrid warfare."

-ABC News' Justin Ryan Gomez

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.

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.

-ABC News' Patrick Reevell

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.

-ABC News' Martha Raddatz

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."

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.

-ABC News' Conor Finnegan