Russia-Ukraine updates: Russian missiles hit close to nuclear reactors: IAEA director

Shelling is ongoing near the largest nuclear power plant in Europe.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's "special military operation" into neighboring Ukraine began on Feb. 24, with Russian forces invading from Belarus, to the north, and Russia, to the east. Ukrainian troops have offered "stiff resistance," according to U.S. officials.

The Russian military has since launched a full-scale ground offensive in eastern Ukraine's disputed Donbas region, capturing the strategic port city of Mariupol and securing a coastal corridor to the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula.

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US to ban Russian gold imports

The Biden administration and other G7 leaders will announce on Sunday an import ban on Russian gold.

"This is a key export, a key source of revenue alternative for Russia, in terms of their ability to transact in the global financial system,” a senior administration official told reporters on a briefing call about the G7 summit in Germany. “Taking this step cuts off that capacity and again, is an ongoing illustration of the types of steps that the G7 can take collectively to continue to isolate Russia and cut it off from the global economy.”

The Treasury Department is expected to issue an official notice on Tuesday.

Gold is Russia's second largest export after oil and a source of significant revenue, but much of Russia's gold exportation has already been cut off in practice by banks, refiners and shippers. The move on Sunday marks an official severance of Russia from the world's gold market.

The U.S. and U.K. are participating in Sunday's announcement, but it is unclear whether all G7 countries will participate in the initiative. A Biden administration official tried to downplay concerns about potential disunity among G7 member states, pivoting instead to a talking point about efforts to cut off all financial pathways for Russia.

Pressed on whether Russia could continue to export gold by going through a country that does not participate in the ban, officials insisted the ban will be effective.

"We will continue to identify places where evasion as a risk continue to take steps to block off those pads,” an official said. “And the measuring gold in some ways is in fact, another step forward to block off ways that that Russia might seek to engage with the financial system, by virtue of all the other ways that have now been cut off to them.”

-ABC News’ Sarah Kolinovsky


Russian strike traps Kyiv woman in rubble

Emergency responders in Kyiv are working to free a woman from the top floor of a residential building that was hit by a Russian strike on Sunday morning.

An advisor to the minister of the interior told ABC News that the woman, who is in her 30s, is alive and trapped in the rubble.

At least one civilian was killed in Sunday’s strike, local officials said. At least one other, a young girl, was rescued from the building in Shevchenkivskyi, a central district a few moments from the historic center of the city.

-ABC News’ Tom Soufi Burridge


Missiles strike central Kyiv residential neighborhood

A series of Russian missiles struck a residential area of Kyiv, Ukraine, on Sunday morning, local officials said.

"Friends! Search and rescue operations are underway in a residential building in the Shevchenkivskyi district where a missile hit," Mayo Vitaliy Klychko said on Telegram. "There are people under the rubble. Some residents were evacuated, two victims were hospitalized. Rescuers continue to work, medics are on site."

At least one residential building appeared to have had sections of its facade sheared off, photos from the scene showed. Emergency responders could be seen working on the upper floors of the building as smoke rose into the morning sky.

"Several explosions in the Shevchenkivskyi district," Klychko said. "Ambulance crews and rescuers on the spot. Residents are being rescued and evacuated in two houses."

At least one missile was shot down by Ukrainian air defenses, Oleksiy Kuleba, head of the Kyiv regional administration, said on Telegram.

"The remains of the missile fell on the outskirts of one of the villages in the area," Kuleba said.

-ABC News' Natalia Kushnir


Ukrainian forces to retreat from Severodonetsk

Ukrainian forces plan to retreat from the city of Severodonetsk, following weeks of fighting.

The local governor said Friday morning “it doesn’t make sense” to hold onto the city and “the number of people killed will increase every day," in a statement on Telegram.

The city has faced a heavy bombardment of rockets and street-to-street fighting between Ukrainian and Russia troops for weeks.

Ukrainian officials said nearly 90% of buildings in Severodonetsk have been destroyed.

It’s believed 8,000 civilians remain. At one point, hundreds of civilians sheltered in a chemical plant.

-ABC News' Joe Simonetti