Russian President Vladimir Putin's "special military operation" into neighboring Ukraine began on Feb. 24, with Russian forces invading from Belarus, to the north, and Russia, to the east. Ukrainian troops have offered "stiff resistance," according to U.S. officials.
The Russian military has since launched a full-scale ground offensive in eastern Ukraine's disputed Donbas region, capturing the strategic port city of Mariupol and securing a coastal corridor to the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula.
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 08, 2022, 6:08 PM EDT
Strike on Kramatorsk train station 'another war crime,' Zelenskyy says
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called Friday's deadly missile attack on the Kramatorsk train station in eastern Ukraine "another war crime of Russia."
"All the world's leading powers have already condemned Russia's attack on Kramatorsk," Zelenskyy said during his latest national address Friday. "We expect a firm, global response to this war crime."
The president called for the missile strike, which killed at least 50, to be among the charges in a war crimes tribunal against Russia.
"All the efforts of the world will be aimed to establish every minute: who did what, who gave orders. Where did the rocket come from, who was carrying it, who gave the order and how the strike was coordinated," Zelenskyy said. "Responsibility is inevitable."
Apr 08, 2022, 5:45 PM EDT
Claims Russia not involved in train attack 'unconvincing': Pentagon
During his daily press briefing, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby was clear that the U.S. believes that Russia was behind the rocket attack on a train station in eastern Ukraine earlier Friday.
"We find unconvincing Russian claims that they weren't involved, particularly when the ministry actually announced it and then when they saw reports of civilian casualties they decided to unannounce it,” Kirby said during Friday afternoon's briefing. "So our assessment is that this was a Russian strike and they used a short-range ballistic missile to conduct it."
Kirby called it a part of the trend by Russia of "brutality" and "carelessness" in not avoiding civilian casualties as they carry out this war in Ukraine.
At least 50 people, including five children, were killed in the rocket attack in Kramatorsk, Ukrainian authorities said.
A Kremlin spokesman denied involvement in the attack, saying Russia's Armed Forces do not use the type of missile used in the strike and that no combat tasks were planned in the region.
-ABC News' Luis Martinez
Apr 08, 2022, 3:23 PM EDT
EU president witnesses mass grave in Bucha
European Union President Ursula Von der Leyen was seen on camera witnessing a mass grave in Bucha, Ukraine, during a visit to the demolished city with the EU's chief diplomat Josep Borrell and Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell (behind) and Denys Shmyhal (green cap), Prime Minister of Ukraine, stand next to body bags from a mass grave in Bucha, Ukraine, April 8, 2022.
Michael Fischer/Picture-Alliance via AP
After touring Bucha, Von der Leyen met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and handed him an envelope with a questionnaire, marking the first step toward membership in the EU. Zelenskyy said he'd have responses in one week.
Global officials have accused Russian troops of committing war crimes after graphic images emerged of civilians lying dead in the streets of Bucha following the withdrawal of Russian forces.
At a press conference Thursday Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, "The sickening images and accounts coming out of Bucha and other parts of Ukraine have only strengthened our collective resolve and unity."
Apr 08, 2022, 3:12 PM EDT
Russia has lost 15-20% of combat power, US says
The Pentagon is "not buying" Russia's denial of responsibility for the Ukraine train station attack that killed at least 50, a senior U.S. defense official said Friday.
"They originally claimed a successful strike and then only retracted it when there were reports of civilian casualties," the official said. "It's our full expectation that this was a Russian strike -- we believe they used a short-range ballistic missile, an SS-21."
As Russian troops retreat from some Ukrainian cities, some of the Russian battalion tactical groups (or BTGs, with roughly 800-1,000 troops each) that have withdrawn back across the Belarusian and Russian borders have been essentially "eradicated" from the fighting in Ukraine, according to the senior defense official.
A woman walks amid destroyed Russian tanks in Bucha, in the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, April 3, 2022.
Rodrigo Abd/AP
"There's just nothing left of the BTG except a handful of troops and maybe a small number of vehicles," the official said.
In terms of total losses -- counting troops, tanks, aircraft and missile inventory -- Russia has lost between 15-20% of the combat power it originally had arrayed against Ukraine since the beginning of the invasion, according to the official.
People walk by an apartment building destroyed during fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces in Borodyanka, Ukraine, April 5, 2022. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russian troops of gruesome atrocities in Ukraine and told the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday that those responsible should immediately be brought up on war crimes charges in front of a tribunal like the one set up at Nuremberg after World War II.
Vadim Ghirda/AP
According to the official, some of the withdrawn Russian forces are now making their way to the Russian cities of Belgorod and Valuyki, to the northwest of Donbas. But there are "no indications" that fresh troops are waiting there to join them, the official said.
For now, degraded Russian BTGs are "exploring the option of" consolidating, banding together remaining troops and supplies to form new units, the official said.
Russia is also aiming to recruit upwards of 60,000 new troops, according to the official.
After Russian BTGs rebuild, "the most likely course of action would be for them to move immediately south right into the Donbas," the official said.
The Pentagon now estimates more than 40 Russian BTGs are positioned in or near the Donbas region. The estimate was "more than 30" on Wednesday, meaning up to 10,000 more troops have arrived in recent days.
