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, 3:15 PM EST
Zelenskyy says he doesn't know how long Ukraine will hold out against Russia
When asked by reporters how long Ukraine can hold out against the Russian advance, Ukraine President Volodymr Zelenskyy said "I don't know."
In a press conference on Thursday reporters asked the president if he would ever leave Kyiv, Zelenskyy said "no!"
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during a press conference in Kyiv on March 3. 2022. Zelensky called on the West to increase military aid to Ukraine, saying Russia would advance on the rest of Europe otherwise.
Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images
Zelenskyy said he's ready to meet and talk directly with Russia President Vladimir Putin and stressed once again the need for a 'no-fly' zone immediately over the entire country, saying it would act as a deterrent.
He paid tribute to the valor of Ukrainian forces and appealed to Russian mothers not to send their sons to die on foreign soil.
Zelenskyy also thanked President Joe Biden for the continuing support, but criticized the West for being late to introduce sanctions that he believes could’ve prevented the Russian invasion in the first place.
-ABC News' Ian Pannell
Mar 03, 2022, 11:41 AM EST
Russia claims forces it backs in Luhansk, Donetsk expanded their territory
Russia's Defense Ministry claimed the forces it backs in Luhansk and Donetsk, the two Ukrainian regions it recognized as independent states, are advancing and gaining territory.
Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Igor Konashenkov claimed, in a press briefing on Thursday, that Donetsk forces conducted an offensive advancing eight kilometers and taking control of the localities of Novokrasnovka and Krasnovka.
Russia claims its armed forces and Donetsk units also took control of the localities of Blahoveshchenka, Synya Hora, Petrivske, Sladkaya Balka, and others, according to Konashenkov.
Konashenkov also claimed that Luhansk forces backed by Russia took control of the Yarovaya-Krasnyi Lyman-Prilovye road.
-ABC News' Tanya Stukalova
Mar 03, 2022, 11:15 AM EST
Russia claims US launched campaign to recruit private military contractors
Russia's Foreign Ministry claimed U.S. military intelligence launched a massive campaign to recruit contractors from private military companies to send to Ukraine.
"They recruit primarily those employed by Academi, CUBIC and DynCorp [International]," Russian Defense Ministry spokesperson Igor Konashenkov said in a press briefing on Thursday.
Foreign mercenaries who have arrived in Ukraine are performing acts of sabotage and attacking Russian convoys of motor vehicles and aviation, Konashenkov said.
"Foreign mercenaries who earlier arrived in Ukraine are carrying out acts of sabotage and raids on Russian convoys of [military] vehicles and materiel supplies, and on the aviation supporting them," Konashenkov said.
Konashenkov claimed Britain, Denmark, Latvia, Poland and Croatia have legally permitted their citizens to take part in Ukraine hostilities and that the command of the French Foreign Legion plans to send its ethnic Ukrainian troops to aid the Kyiv regime.
Mercenaries from other countries in Ukraine will not receive prisoner-of-war status and will be subject to criminal liability, Konashenkov said.
"I want to officially emphasize that all mercenaries sent by the West to help the Kyiv nationalist regime are not combatants under international humanitarian law. They are not entitled to POW status," Konashenkov said.
Russia said it hopes its current talks with Ukraine on Belarusian soil will soon lead to a peaceful settlement, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said.
"We hope the [talks] will lead to a swift conclusion of this situation, the restoration of peace in Donbas, and the return of all peoples of Ukraine to a peaceful and equitable life," she told a briefing in Moscow on Thursday.
- ABC News' Tanya Stukalova
Mar 03, 2022, 10:58 AM EST
Macron says the 'worst is yet to come' after call with Putin: Source
After a call between France President Emmanuel Macron and Russia President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, an Elysée source said the risk of Russia's war extending beyond Ukraine to neighboring countries exists.
"The worst is yet to come," the source told reporters, saying France takes this under consideration in its exchanges with its partners
The Elysée source told reporters that the reality of Ukrainian power has nothing to do with Nazism and that Macron told Putin how much of a "lie" that is.
The two leaders spoke on the phone for an hour and a half, according to the Elysée.
The French president insisted this war will plunge Russia into isolation and that it will be under sanctions for a long time, according to the Elysée.
According to the Elysée source, Putin wants the neutralization and the demilitarization of Ukraine. He is ready to obtain it through negotiation if the Ukrainians are ready to do so, or continue the war until he achieves these objectives.
Firefighters work to extinguish a fire at a damaged logistic center after shelling in Kyiv, Ukraine, March 3, 2022.
Efrem Lukatsky/AP
The Kremlin echoed this in its statement.
"Putin set out in detail the principled approaches and conditions in the context of the talks with Kyiv's representatives. It was confirmed that [the talks] focused primarily on the demilitarization and neutral status of Ukraine, so that no threat would ever emanate from its territory to the Russian Federation," the Kremlin said in a statement.
The Kremlin said the "objectives of the special military operation will be fulfilled any way, and that the attempts to play for time by dragging out the talks will only lead to our negotiating position presenting Kyiv with further demands."
Regarding the Ukrainian request for a 'no-fly' zone, the Elysée source said that the answer is not necessarily in the sky. These are tanks that deploy on Ukrainian soil. A no fly zone requires considerable resources and is not enough to prevent the risk of ground warfare.
“I know of only one case of a no fly zone that was effectively implemented, it was in Iraq after the first Gulf War to protect the Kurdish populations," said the Elysée source. "But you can see that we are in a different situation”.
- ABC News' Christine Theodorou and Ibtissem Guenfoud
