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.
Apr 04, 2022, 10:54 PM EDT
US cuts Russia off from dollars it holds at American financial institutions
The U.S. Treasury said Monday night that it would no longer allow the Russian government to make payments on debt using dollars it holds at U.S. financial institutions, another step that puts pressure on the Russian government’s funds.
This step “was in the works before the weekend and isn’t a response” to the atrocities in Bucha, according to a Treasury spokesperson.
"One of the most potent actions of the 700-plus sanctions we’ve imposed have been our sanctions on Russia’s Central Bank, which were levied with unprecedented multilateral coordination, speed, and impact," the spokesperson said. “Today is the deadline for Russia to make another debt payment. Beginning today, the U.S. Treasury will not permit any dollar debt payments to be made from Russian government accounts at U.S. financial institutions.”
"Russia must choose between draining remaining valuable dollar reserves or new revenue coming in, or default," the spokesperson continued. "This will further deplete the resources Putin is using to continue his war against Ukraine and will cause more uncertainty and challenges for their financial system."
-ABC News' Ben Gittleson
Apr 04, 2022, 7:28 PM EDT
'Today has been a really difficult day, emotional,' Zelenskyy says of visit to Bucha
More than 300 people have been killed and tortured in Bucha, with the death toll expected to be much higher once the entire city has been checked, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an address Monday following his visit to the ravaged city.
Even more are feared dead in Borodyanka and other liberated cities, Zelenskyy said, vowing to punish those responsible.
"We are already doing everything possible to identify all the Russian military involved in these crimes as soon as possible. Everything to punish them," Zelenskyy said. "This will be a joint work of our state with the European Union and international institutions, in particular with the International Criminal Court."
Zelenskyy also said that Russia is using old tactics to distort the truth about what happened in Bucha.
"They will not succeed," Zelensky said. "They will not be able to deceive the whole world."
-ABC News' Christine Theodorou
Apr 04, 2022, 5:34 PM EDT
Russian ambassador to the UN claims Ukraine 'staged' Bucha atrocities
Russia is not responsible for the atrocities that Ukraine claims occurred in Bucha, the Russian Ambassador to the United Nations claimed in a press conference on Monday.
Ambassador Vasily Alekseevich Nebenzya claimed that experts who analyzed the video showing dead bodies on the street in Bucha and concluded the scene was staged, alleging that the people lying on the street showed signs of life and that it was clear the first stages of decomposition, which would have occurred in the days after Russian military forces had withdrawn, have not taken place.
To back his claims, Nebenzya played a video, purportedly filmed on Saturday after Russian forces left Bucha, and pointed out that there were no dead bodies on the streets.
Ukainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks to the press in the town of Bucha, Ukraine, April 4, 2022. Zelenskyy said on April 3, 2022 the Russian leadership was responsible for civilian killings in Bucha, outside Kyiv, where bodies were found lying in the street after the town was retaken by the Ukrainian army
Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP via Getty Images
Nebenzya also alleged that the Ukrainian military interviewed people in different locations throughout Bucha and there was no mention of a civilian massacre.
"Now the nationalists have a pretext to commit a real massacre" Nebenzya said, claiming Ukraine would use Bucha as a false flag operation. "We want the world to stay alert."
Nebenzya added that the "truth of what happened in Bucha will reveal itself" and that he will present "even more" evidence to the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday.
-ABC News' Christine Theodorou
Apr 04, 2022, 5:39 PM EDT
US pushes to expel Russian diplomats from UN Human Rights Council
The U.S., in coordination with Ukraine and European allies, is pushing to expel Russia from the United Nations Human Rights Council, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield announced Monday.
The U.N. Human Rights Council is a body within the U.N. system where countries are elected for three-year terms. To suspend one of the body's 47 elected members requires a two-thirds majority in the U.N.'s main body -- the U.N. General Assembly.
During a press conference in Romania, Thomas-Greenfield told reporters the U.S. wants to have a vote this week.
"We cannot let a member state that is subverting every principle we hold dear to continue to sit on the U.N. Human Rights Council," she said. "Russia should not have a position of authority in that body, nor should we allow Russia to use their role on the Council as a tool of propaganda to suggest they have a legitimate concern about human rights."
A neighbor comforts Natalya, whose husband and nephew were killed by Russian forces, as she cries in her garden in Bucha, Ukraine, April 4, 2022.
Vadim Ghirda/AP
Thomas-Greenfield called Moscow's participation a "farce" and added it "hurts the credibility of the Council and the U.N. writ large -- and it is simply wrong."
It is unclear whether the U.S. and its allies and partners have the votes to take this rare step, but two previous U.N. General Assembly votes condemning Russia's invasion have yielded 141 and 140 votes -- crossing the two-thirds threshold of the U.N.'s 193 member states.
Whether they can secure that same level of support for an expulsion, which some countries may see as an escalation, is an open question.
A grave site, an approximatly 45-foot trench, in the southwestern section of the Church of St. Andrew and Pyervozvannoho All Saints in Bucha, Ukraine is seen March 31.
State Department spokesperson Ned Price indicated they believe they have the votes, saying the U.S. believes the General Assembly will "stand up in clear contravention of what Russia is doing."
"It's something that we'll continue to discuss," Price said. "But, as we've heard, there's been widespread, strong condemnation of this conduct and this would be the next natural step."
The U.N. Security Council will meet Tuesday to discuss Ukraine, with the atrocities reported out of Bucha and other Kyiv suburbs on the agenda.
"We will be prepared to confront them with the actual truth," Thomas-Greenfield said Monday when asked about that meeting. "They of course will, as they always do, try to distract us with their lies, and we're prepared for that."
