Russia-Ukraine updates: US sanctions Russian military shipbuilder, diamond miner

Russia's largest military shipbuilding and diamond mining firms were targeted.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's "special military operation” into Ukraine began on Feb. 24, with troops crossing the border from Belarus and Russia. Moscow's forces have since been met with “stiff resistance” from Ukrainians, according to U.S. officials.

Russian forces retreated last week from the Kyiv suburbs, leaving behind a trail of destruction. After graphic images emerged of civilians lying dead in the streets of Bucha, U.S. and European officials accused Russian troops of committing war crimes.

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Two Men at War

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.

Mar 13, 2022, 2:50 PM EDT

Oligarchs' homes could be used to house refugees: UK minister

British officials are exploring whether they can use the homes of sanctioned Russian oligarchs to house refugees from the war in Ukraine, a top United Kingdom minister told the BBC.

Michael Gove, the British secretary of state for housing, said he wants to explore options for using oligarchs' homes in Great Britain to shelter the millions of refugees fleeing Ukraine "for as long as they are sanctioned."

“There’s quite a high legal bar to cross and we’re not talking about permanent confiscation. But we are saying, ‘You’re sanctioned, you’re supporting Putin, this home is here, you have no right to use or profit from it," Grove said. "If we can use it in order to help others, let’s do that."

Mar 13, 2022, 2:17 PM EDT

WHO verifies 31 attacks on health care in Ukraine

At least 31 Russian attacks have been against Ukraine health care facilities, medical staff and ambulances, according to a joint statement Sunday from the World Health Organization, the United Nations and UNICEF.

“Today, we call for an immediate cessation of all attacks on health care in Ukraine. These horrific attacks are killing and causing serious injuries to patients and health workers, destroying vital health infrastructure and forcing thousands to forgo accessing health services despite catastrophic needs," the statement reads.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visits an injured Ukrainian serviceman at a military hospital, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Kyiv, Ukraine March 13, 2022.
Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters

WHO's surveillance system for the attacks verified that at least 24 health care facilities have been damaged or destroyed. WHO said it has also verified that five ambulances have been destroyed in attacks.

The attacks on health care targets have caused at least 12 deaths and 34 injuries since the Russian invasion began, according to the statement.

Oxygen and other medical supplies, including those used for the management of pregnancy complications, "are running dangerously low," the statement said.

“For example, more than 4,300 births have occurred in Ukraine since the start of the war and 80,000 Ukrainian women are expected to give birth in the next three months," the organizations said.

Mar 13, 2022, 1:10 PM EDT

US and China to hold 1st in-person talks since Russia's invasion of Ukraine

White House national security advisor Jake Sullivan is scheduled to meet with Chinese foreign policy adviser Yang Jiechi in Rome on Monday, the first in-person, high-level talks between the two countries since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, an NSA spokesperson said on Sunday.

The Biden administration has been urging Beijing to use its influence with Moscow to condemn its war.

"The two sides will discuss ongoing efforts to manage the competition between our two countries and discuss the impact of Russia's war against Ukraine on regional and global security," NSA spokesperson Emily Horne said in a statement.

Luigi Mattiolo, diplomatic adviser to Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, and Sullivan are also scheduled to meet in Rome “to continue coordinating a strong, united international response to President Putin’s war of choice," Horne said.

-ABC News' Justin Gomez

Mar 13, 2022, 12:38 PM EDT

Zelenskyy claims nearly 13,000 Russian soldiers have been killed

Almost 13,000 Russian soldiers have been killed since the start of the invasion of Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday.

In a short self-shot video address, Zelenskyy also said Russia had lost 1,000 military vehicles, 74 fighter jets and 86 helicopters. It was not immediately possible for ABC News to verify the figures.

A fire burns in an apartment building after it was hit by the shelling of a residential district in Mariupol, Ukraine, March 11, 2022.
Evgeniy Maloletka/AP

Zelenskyy added that a convoy of humanitarian aid was about 50 miles away from the besieged city of Mariupol in southeast Ukraine. He accused the Russians of blocking Orthodox priests who were accompanying the aid, which he said contains "100 tons of the most necessary things that Ukraine sent to its citizens."

"We have already evacuated almost 125,000 people to the safe territory through humanitarian corridors," said Zelenskyy of the situation in Mariupol.

The Mariupol City Council claimed Sunday that 2,187 civilians in the city have been killed since the invasion started on Feb. 24 and that Russia had dropped 100 bombs on Mariupol.

The latest information from the United Nations Human Rights Council shows that 579 civilians have been confirmed killed in Ukraine since the start of the invasion and another 1,002 have been injured.

-ABC News' Christine Theodorou

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