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.

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 28, 2022, 4:00 PM EST

US committed to pursuing accountability for human rights violations: State Department

The U.S. is supporting an international effort to "detect and document potential human rights violations" for abuses of international humanitarian law, potential war crimes and "other potential atrocities" committed by Russia, Department of State Spokesman Ned Price announced Monday.

The U.S. will use "every tool available, including criminal prosecutions where appropriate," Price said in a warning to "the government of Russia and all Russian personnel involved in these operations" against Ukraine.

Price said the U.S. is concerned by reports of civilians killed, schools and kindergartens destroyed, and other civilian targets impacted.

Feb 28, 2022, 3:57 PM EST

Microsoft detected round of ‘offensive and destructive’ cyberattacks toward Ukraine hours before invasion

Hours before the physical invasion into Ukraine, Microsoft detected a new round of "offensive and destructive" cyberattacks directed at the Ukrainian government, a top Microsoft official announced.

"In recent days, we have provided threat intelligence and defensive suggestions to Ukrainian officials regarding attacks on a range of targets, including Ukrainian military institutions and manufacturers and several other Ukrainian government agencies," President and Vice Chair of Microsoft Brad Smith wrote in a blog post Monday. "This work is ongoing."

Microsoft remains concerned about the cyber threat emanating from Ukraine, "especially" recent cyberattacks on Ukrainian civilian digital targets, including on the financial sector, agriculture sector, emergency response services, humanitarian aid efforts and energy sector organizations, Smith said.

"These attacks on civilian targets raise serious concerns under the Geneva Convention, and we have shared information with the Ukrainian government about each of them," he wrote.

In this Feb. 15, 2022, file photo, the Twitter profile of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine is displayed on a mobile phone screen photographed in Krakow, Poland.
Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Shutterstock

Microsoft has advised the Ukrainian government about recent cyber efforts to steal a wide range of data, including health, insurance and transportation-related personally identifiable information, as well as other government data sets, Smith said. Microsoft is also sharing information with U.S. officials.

Over the weekend, the U.S. warned that a cyberattack in Ukraine could have ripple effects in the U.S.

"Further disruptive cyberattacks against organizations in Ukraine are likely to occur and may unintentionally spill over to organizations in other countries," the FBI, DHS and CISA warned in a statement, saying Russia has taken these steps in the past. "Organizations should increase vigilance and evaluate their capabilities encompassing planning, preparation, detection, and response for such an event."

Microsoft is "swiftly" removing Russian propaganda from their websites from the Windows app store, including RT, the Russian state-controlled international television network.

"We are also focused as a company in protecting against state-sponsored disinformation campaigns, which have long been commonplace in times of war," Smith wrote.

This comes as Meta, the parent company of Facebook, announced efforts it was taking to disrupt social media misinformation campaigns.

-ABC News’ Luke Barr and Cindy Smith

Feb 28, 2022, 2:22 PM EST

Ukraine, Russia envoys kick off contentious debate in rare UNGA special session

In an extraordinary emergency meeting of the U.N. General Assembly -- only the 11th in the body’s history -- representatives from Ukraine and Russia delivered fiery back-to-back remarks.

Ukrainian Ambassador to the U.N. Sergiy Kyslytsya compared Russian President Vladimir Putin to Adolf Hilter.

“This war was not provoked. It was chosen by someone who is right now sitting in the bunker. We know what happened with the person who sat in the bunker in Berlin in May 1945," he said.

Kyslytsya accused Russia of carrying out war crimes, saying Russians "keep attacking kindergartens and orphanages, thus committing war crimes and violating the Rome Statute. Hospitals and mobile medical aid brigades are also targeted by the Russian shelling and sabotage groups working in Ukraine cities and towns.”

He concluded with an appeal for support, stressing that it was not just Ukraine at stake.

“If Ukraine does not survive, international peace will not survive," he said.

A man helps a firefighterextinguish a burning barn following Russian shelling outside outside Mariupol, Ukraine, Feb. 24, 2022.
Sergei Grits/AP

PHOTO: People take shelter inside a building in Mariupol, Ukraine, Feb. 27, 2022.
People take shelter inside a building in Mariupol, Ukraine, Feb. 27, 2022. Street fighting broke out in Ukraine's second-largest city and Russian troops squeezed strategic ports in the country's south as the prospect of peace talks remains uncertain.
Evgeniy Maloletka/AP

Russian Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya denied the veracity of many of Kyslytsya’s claims, saying instead of discussing the roots of the “disinformation,” he wished to focus on the “real reasons for the crisis,” saying the fault lies with Ukraine itself. He cited baseless Kremlin-peddled claims that the country was carrying out a brutal attack on the people of the Donbas region and accused Western powers of turning “a blind eye."

Nebenzya also attempted to shift blame to the West.

“Our Western colleagues have shamelessly inundated the country with weapons, have sent to the country instructors, and effectively incited Ukrainians who are facing a 120,000-strong military contingent, and prompted them to engage in armed provocation again the Donbas,” he said.

This phase of debate on a resolution condemning Russia’s actions in Ukraine has now concluded and the General Assembly is expected to vote on the resolution later on Monday.

-ABC News' Shannon Crawford

Feb 28, 2022, 1:55 PM EST

French embassy moving from Kyiv to Lviv

France’s embassy in Ukraine will be moved from the capital, Kyiv, to Lviv, near the Polish border, France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said in a live interview on BFMTV.

Le Drian said, “I'm not sure President Putin imagined his operation was going to be so difficult."

A Kyiv resident and volunteer prepares a rear post with trenches, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Feb. 28, 2022.
Daphne Rousseau/AFP via Getty Images

He added, “Vladimir Putin has lost the communication battle” and that while “Putin wanted to divide us," "he has achieved the opposite."

A nurse checks a baby being treated at a pediatrics center after the unit was moved to the basement of the hospital which is being used as a bomb shelter, in Kyiv on Feb. 28, 2022.
Aris Messinis/AFP via Getty Images

Related Topics

Sponsored Content by Taboola