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, 6:20 PM EDT
International Court of Justice ruling on Russia expected Wednesday
The International Court of Justice will soon issue a ruling on allegations brought against Russia by Ukraine.
Ukraine had launched a case against Russia at the United Nations' highest court, located in Hague, The Netherlands, accusing Moscow of planning genocide.
Ukraine also asked the court to intervene to halt the invasion and to order Russia to pay reparations.
The court will deliver the ruling at 11 a.m. EST on Wednesday, the U.N. announced in a press release.
-ABC News' Matt Foster
Mar 14, 2022, 5:34 PM EDT
'Patients first,' Pfizer CEO says of continuing to send supplies to Russia
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla on Monday defended the company’s decision to continue supplying medicine to Russia, saying “patients first.”
The pharmaceutical company announced Monday that it would donate all profits from sales in Russia to Ukraine. Despite the hefty sanctions placed on Russia by countries around the world, Bourla said at the South by Southwest film festival in Austin that a humanitarian exemption to continue operations in Russia applies.
“Always with sanctions, medicines are excluded,” he said, citing other previous instances, including Iran. “We debated a lot what needs to be done, and we felt it’s so foundational in our principles that patients should come first that we cannot stop the flow of our medicines to Russia.”
Bourla emphasized that medicine is not comparable to goods such as the latest smartphone, saying that treatments for conditions such as lung and metastatic breast cancer “can’t stop.”
However, Pfizer is not "continuing business as usual" in Russia, Bourla said.
“Though we will maintain the flow of the medicines, we will not make money out of it -- all the profits of the Russian subsidiary going forward effective immediately will be donated to causes to alleviate the pain that the invasion is causing to Ukrainians.”
-ABC News' Sasha Pezenik
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.
