The U.N. said it is increasingly concerned about the nearly 2 million internally displaced people and nearly 13 million impacted by the Ukraine-Russia conflict.

Of particular concern are supplies of food, water, medicines and other necessities that are urgently needed in the hard-hit cities of Kharkiv and Mariupol, according to UNHCR spokesperson Matthew Saltmarsh. Access to these areas remains restricted because of military operations and hazards like land mines.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees is working to provide heating stations at border crossings for those who are particularly vulnerable and is also working to roll out cash assistance.

-ABC News' Zoe Magee

The number of refugees in the Ukraine crisis has increased to 2.5 million, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Commissioner Filippo Grandi called the conflict "senseless" in a tweet and said that the number of displaced people inside Ukraine had reached about 2 million.

-ABC News' Zoe Magee

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered his defense minister to assist “volunteer” fighters to travel to Ukraine to join Russian forces there.

The order appears to relate to Russian efforts to recruit Syrian fighters that U.S. officials have said are underway.

Russia’s defense minister Sergey Shoigu claimed to Putin that 16,000 volunteers from “the Middle East” had expressed a desire to come.

Shoigu claimed that the fighters, who he said had experience fighting ISIS, wanted to come not for money but a “sincere” desire to help.

U.S. officials have said they believe Russia is recruiting Syrians experienced in urban combat from its areas held by its ally, Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad. They are reported to be being offered just a few hundred dollars.

-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell

The Senate passed a $1.5 trillion government funding bill late Thursday that includes $13.6 billion in supplemental aid to Ukraine by a vote of 68-31.

The legislation will now head to President Joe Biden's desk for his signature.

In a statement, White House press secretary Jen Psaki thanked leaders for "getting this bill done" and said Biden "looks forward to signing it into law."

"With these resources, we will be able to deliver historic support for the Ukrainian people as they defend their country and democracy," she said in part.

The supplemental Ukrainian aid is split between defense and nondefense funding. The $1.5 trillion also includes funding for many of the administration's priorities as well as sizable amounts for defense spending.

-ABC News' Allie Pecorin and Justin Gomez

Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed there have been “certain positive movements” in negotiations with Ukraine, “which are emerging almost daily."

Putin made the remarks in a televised meeting in the Kremlin with Belarus’ leader Alexander Lukashenko.

A third round of talks last week ended without any resolution, although the sides agreed to open humanitarian corridors to allow the evacuation of civilians.

But this week Russia has seemed to make subtle shifts in its demands, which suggest it might be slightly moderating its position in the face of heavy casualties in Ukraine and an unexpectedly intense global backlash.

The Kremlin ahead of the last round of talks announced its conditions for ending the war, saying Ukraine must change its constitution to guarantee it will never join political blocs, interpreted as meaning NATO or the European Union, and it must also recognize Crimea as part of Russia and the independence of the two Russian-controlled separatist regions in eastern Ukraine.

The demands are still maximalist but there was no reference to removing Ukraine’s current government under president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, suggesting the Kremlin may have quietly dropped the goal.

-ABC News' Patrick Reevell