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 15, 2022, 4:47 PM EDT
4th round of Ukraine-Russia talks to resume Wednesday
The fourth round of talks between Ukrainian and Russian leaders will resume on Wednesday, Ukraine's presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak tweeted.
Podolyak called it a "very difficult" process with "fundamental contradictions," but added, "there is certainly room for compromise."
Raquela, 2, and Manuela watch cartoons on an iPhone at Dumbraveni sports arena which has been converted to a temporary shelter, after they fled with their families from the beseiged Ukraine in Suceava, Romania March 15, 2022.
Clodagh Kilcoyne/Reuters
A injured serviceman stands in front of a hospital following an attack on the Yavoriv military base, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in Yavoriv, Ukraine, March 13, 2022.
Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters
State Department spokesperson Ned Price on Tuesday declined to say whether the department was optimistic about the talks, but said the U.S. hasn't seen any action from the Kremlin to demonstrate "good faith."
"We have yet to find a Russian interlocutor that is either able or willing to negotiate in good faith, and certainly not in the context of de-escalation," he said.
-ABC News' Conor Finnegan and Christine Theodorou
Mar 15, 2022, 4:37 PM EDT
Food shortage 'could be hell on Earth'
David Beasley, executive director of the UN World Food Programme, is sounding the alarm about a global food shortage for the world’s most vulnerable populations if the war in Ukraine doesn’t end soon.
“You're talking about the breadbasket of the world where we buy 50% of our grain from Ukraine. And so with the farmers on the battlefront, when it's harvest time and planting time, it's going to wreak havoc not just inside Ukraine, but worldwide,” Beasley told ABC News.
Before the war broke out, Beasley said climate, the pandemic and supply chain issues had already increased costs by millions, reduced available food and forced the WFP to cut distribution around the world.
“In the next nine months, if we don't end this war quickly, it could be hell on Earth,” Beasley said.
-ABC News' Martha Raddatz, Sam Sweeney
Mar 15, 2022, 3:30 PM EDT
Fox News cameraman, producer killed in Ukraine
Fox News cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski has been killed in Ukraine, according to Fox News.
Cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski, left, poses with colleagues at the Kyiv Intercontinental Hotel, in an undated photo courtesy of the Fox News network. Zakrzewski was killed and his colleague Benjamin Hall was wounded when their vehicle was struck March 14, 2022, by incoming fire in Horenka, outside of Kyiv in Ukraine.
FOX News via AFP-Getty Images
Zakrzewski, 55, was newsgathering with correspondent Benjamin Hall on Monday in Horenka, outside of Kyiv, when their vehicle was hit by incoming fire, the network said.
Hall was injured and hospitalized in unknown condition.
"Pierre jumped in to help out with all sorts of roles in the field - photographer, engineer, editor and producer and he did it all under immense pressure and with tremendous skill," a statement from Fox News PR said. "He was a professional, he was a journalist, and he was a friend. We here at the Fox News Channel want to offer our deepest condolences to Pierre’s wife, Michelle, and his entire family."
Ukrainian producer and fixer, 24-year-old Oleksandra Kuvshynova, who was working for Fox News during the war, was also killed in the shelling, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
Oleksandra "Sasha" Kuvshynova alongside Trey Yingst and Pierre Zakrzewski in this undated photo provided by Fox News.
Fox News
Kuvshynova was described by her colleagues as "hard-working, funny, kind and brave."
"Her dream was to connect with people around the world and tell their stories and she fulfilled that through her journalism," Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott said in a statement on her death sent to staff Tuesday.
Mar 15, 2022, 1:42 PM EDT
Refugee numbers reach 3 million
Over 3 million refugees have now fled Ukraine, according to Filippo Grandi, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
A girl holds her sibling in a temporary shelter for Ukrainian refugees in a school in Przemysl, near the Ukrainian-Polish border, March 14, 2022.
Louisa Gouliamaki/AFP via Getty Images
Over 1.5 million of those refugees are children, according to UNICEF spokesperson James Elder.
