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.
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 14, 2022, 3:56 PM EDT
Fox News correspondent injured while reporting in Ukraine
Fox News State Department correspondent Benjamin Hall was injured while newsgathering near Kyiv on Monday, according to Suzanne Scott, CEO of Fox News Media.
The circumstances were not immediately clear but Scott said Hall was hospitalized.
"Please keep Ben and his family in your prayers," Scott said in a statement.
Shaun Tandon, president of the State Department Correspondents’ Association, said in a statement, "We know Ben for his warmth, good humor and utmost professionalism. We wish Ben a quick recovery and call for utmost efforts to protect journalists who are providing an invaluable service through their coverage in Ukraine.”
Mar 14, 2022, 3:26 PM EDT
US warns China: No country will 'get away with' aiding Russia
While the State Department has declined to confirm reports that Russia has reached out to China for aid, State Department spokesman Ned Price is warning China that the U.S. is watching for any country that may come to Russia's defense.
A police car parked at closed Red Square with the St. Basil's Cathedral in the background in Moscow, Russia, March 13, 2022.
AP
The U.S. delegation "raised directly and very clearly our concerns about the PRC's [People's Republic of China's] support for Russia in the wake of the invasion and the implications that any such support would have for the PRC's relationship not only with us, but for its relationships around the world," Price said.
The U.S. is "watching very closely the extent to which the PRC or any other country for that matter provides any form of support -- whether that's material support, whether that's economic support, whether that's financial support for Russia," he added.
He declined to say whether the U.S. and its allies are drawing up sanctions in case China provides strong support to Russia in violation of Western sanctions.
But he said, "Any country that would seek to, attempt to bail Russia out of this economic, financial morass will be met with consequences. We will ensure that no country is able to get away with such a thing."
During a United Nations Security Council briefing Monday, China appeared to align itself more closely with the Kremlin.
“The final solution to the crisis in Ukraine is to take seriously and respect the reasonable security concerns of all states,” said Zhang Jun, China's U.N. representative, repeating China’s assertion that Russia is reacting to legitimate threats to national security posed by Ukraine.
China's Ambassador to the U.N. Zhang Jun addresses the United Nations Security Council, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City, March 14, 2022.
Andrew Kelly/Reuters
He continued, “The Cold War was over long ago. Cold War mentality based on bloc confrontation should be completely rejected. Sticking to hegemony mentality and provoking bloc confrontation will only bring the world disasters and exacerbate turmoil and division."
He also slammed the use of sanctions by the U.S. and it allies, arguing that these economic punishments would not solve the conflict, but create more international strife.
-ABC News' Conor Finnegan and Shannon Crawford
Mar 14, 2022, 3:16 PM EDT
Mariupol residents evacuate during lull in violence
There was a lull in attacks by Russian forces on the coastal Ukrainian city of Mariupol on Monday, allowing the first mass civilian evacuation from the city, according to Petro Andrushenko, an adviser to the mayor.
About 160 cars fled the city Monday, carrying what's estimated to be hundreds of civilians, he said.
Heavy shelling and air bombardments impeded previous efforts to get civilians out and to allow for humanitarian supplies to be brought in.
The Mariupol City Council reported Sunday that 2,187 residents had been killed since the start of the invasion. Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereschuk said last week that the city was "beyond a humanitarian disaster," with most roads destroyed, little communication with the outside and no power, gas or heat.
Anastasia Erashova cries as she hugs the one remaining living child of her three children in a corridor of a hospital in Mariupol, eastern Ukraine, March 11, 2022. Anastasia's other two children were killed during the shelling of Mariupol.
Evgeniy Maloletka/AP
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
-ABC News' Patrick Reevell
Mar 14, 2022, 2:46 PM EDT
Russian violence getting 'increasingly indiscriminate': US official
The Russian military is trying to subdue population centers "using more and more long-range fires, which are increasingly indiscriminate in terms of what they're hitting," a senior U.S. defense official warned Monday.
An elderly woman hugs a fireman after being evacuated from an apartment building hit by shelling in the Obolon district of Kyiv in Ukraine, March 14, 2022.
State Emergency Service of Ukraine/AFP via Getty Images
Russia has now launched more than 900 missiles against Ukraine, according to the official.
But the official said "almost all of Russia's advances remain stalled."
The Russians closest to Kyiv are still near Hostomel Airport, about 9 miles from the city center. Some troops are moving in behind those advance forces, "but not at a great pace," the official said.
Rescuers work next to a residential building damaged by shelling, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Kyiv, Ukraine, in this handout picture released March 14, 2022.
State Emergency Service of Ukraine/via Reuters
The coastal city of Mariupol remains isolated and under heavy bombardment, with Russian forces to the north and east, though Ukrainians are continuing to fight back, the official said.
Significant fighting continues over Kharkiv in northeast Ukraine, with Russians relying more and more on long-range missile attacks, the official said.
The official said the U.S. is seeing a new line of advance, with 50 to 60 vehicles moving from the southwest of Kharkiv down toward the town of Izyum.
"The assessment is that they are trying to block off the Donbass area and to prevent the flow westward of any Ukrainian armed forces that would be in the eastern part of the country, prevent[ing] them from coming to the assistance of other Ukrainian defenders near Kyiv," the official said.
