Russian forces are continuing their attempted push through Ukraine from multiple directions, while Ukrainians, led by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, are putting up "stiff resistance," according to U.S. officials.
The attack began Feb. 24, when Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a "special military operation."
Russian forces moving from neighboring Belarus toward Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, have advanced closer to the city center in recent days despite the resistance, coming within about 9 miles as of Friday.
Russia has been met by sanctions from the United States, Canada and countries throughout Europe, targeting the Russian economy as well as Putin himself.
A look at the two leaders at the center of the war in Ukraine and how they both rose to power, the difference in their leadership and what led to this moment in history.
Here's how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Mar 03, 2022, 10:24 AM EST
China dismisses reports it told Russia not to act until after Olympics
The Chinese Foreign Ministry dismissed reports by the New York Times and South China Morning Post that Chinese officials told Russian officials not to act until after the Winter Olympics were over.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin called the reports "fake news" in a press conference and went on to blame U.S. and NATO for pushing Russia to act against Ukraine.
Wang called the U.S. and NATO troublemakers and said they should shoulder the responsibility to end the war.
- ABC News' Karson Yiu
Mar 03, 2022, 8:51 AM EST
Zelenskyy warns Putin: 'You will repay everything you did against Ukraine'
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy issued a warning to his Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, as Russian forces continued their offensive.
"You will repay everything you did against Ukraine -- in full," Zelenskyy said in a televised statement. "And we will not forget those who perished -- and God won't."
This handout video grab taken and released by the Ukraine Presidency press service on March 3, 2022 shows Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky delivering an address in Kyiv.
Ukraine Presidency/AFP via Getty Images
Zelenskyy noted that his country receives "more and more powerful weapons everyday" from "partners" and "real friends." He also likened the Russian invasion to being "attacked by another virus."
"Exactly two years ago, the first case of COVID-19 was recorded in Ukraine. The first weeks of fighting it were extremely difficult, but we were united and therefore strong and therefore we withstood," he said. "Exactly a week ago, Ukraine was attacked by another virus, another disease, by those who suffer from severe annexation and occupation of foreign lands. The first hours and days of full-scale war were extremely difficult, but we were united and therefore strong and therefore we withstood. And it will be so and we will continue to stand."
Mar 03, 2022, 8:22 AM EST
Russia freezes supplies of rocket engines to US
Russia's state space corporation Roscosmos announced Thursday its decision to suspend supplies of Russian-made rocket engines to the United States.
"In this situation, we can no longer supply the U.S. with our rocket engines that are the best in the world," Roscosmos CEO Dmitry Rogozin said on state-owned television channel Russia-24. "Let them fly on something else, like their brooms or whatever. But at least we are freezing our shipments."
-ABC News' Tanya Stukalova
Mar 03, 2022, 8:07 AM EST
Russia wants to make Mariupol 'like Aleppo,' local official says
Russian forces continue to intensely bombard the key Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, according to local councillor Petro Andrushenko.
Speaking to ABC News by telephone from a bomb shelter in Mariupol on Thursday, Andrushenko said Russian forces have been striking the southern city with missiles and heavy artillery non-stop for more than 24 hours. He said the firing was continuing even as he spoke, hitting the city center.
Mariupol is now besieged and surrounded by Russian troops. A last column of journalists and diplomats managed to pull out on Wednesday under the guns of advancing Russian forces.
Serhii, father of teenager Iliya, cries over his son's lifeless body lying on a stretcher at a maternity hospital converted into a medical ward in Mariupol, Ukraine, March 2, 2022.
Evgeniy Maloletka/AP
Andrushenko said one neighborhood, Livoberezhna, has been "destroyed" and that authorities have tried to evacuate the residents there. The entire city is without power and has waning supplies, according to Andrushenko.
"We haven't any heat, we haven't any water, we haven't any electricity, but we have Russian rockets," he told ABC News.
At least 10 people have been killed and 150 others have been injured in Mariupol so far, according to Andrushenko. But it's virtually impossible to get an accurate count because authorities are unable to recover bodies under such heavy bombardment.
Andrushenko said he believes Russia is trying to make Mariupol "like Aleppo," the Syrian city that the Russian military helped Syrian government forces devastate during a siege there in 2016. Aleppo ultimately became a symbol of the brutality of the Syrian civil war.
“They want to do like Aleppo for Mariupol now," Andrushenko said, "because Mariupol is a symbol of Ukrainian power."
