Russia-Ukraine updates: Putin says war was ‘unleashed’ on Russia

The Russian president delivered his annual Victory Day speech.

More than a year after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, the countries are fighting for control of areas in eastern and southern Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's forces are readying a spring counteroffensive, but Putin appears to be preparing for a long and bloody war.

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Ukraine accuses Russia of conducting 'state sponsored kidnapping of children'

Ukraine accused Russia of conducting state-sponsored kidnapping of children, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in a statement to the United Nations Security Council on Friday.

"The magnitude of the humanitarian crisis brought on by Russia's aggression against Ukraine cannot be overstated. I would like to highlight here one of numerous horrendous facts - Russia is now implementing in Ukraine probably the largest instance of state sponsored kidnapping of children in history of our modern world," Kuleba said.

-ABC News' Ellie Kaufman


Zelenskyy hopes China will not supply Russia with weapons

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters he wants to believe China won’t supply Russia with weapons in the ongoing conflict.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday that the U.S. and NATO have intelligence that China is getting ready to possibly supply Russia with weapons. China has denied these claims.

Zelenskyy said it is "priority No. 1" for him to prevent China from providing Russia with weapons.

"This is very important. This is priority No. 1 for me and I am doing my best to prevent that from happening. It is important for us," he said.

He added, "I believe China is going to side with the idea of fair peace, peace and fairness which is our side."

-ABC News' Fidel Pavlenko


After a year, is the US strategy to help Ukraine win or force a stalemate?

One year ago, with Ukraine's borders surrounded by what seemed to be a superior military force, many U.S. officials and analysts predicted a swift Russian blitz to Kyiv.

But after Russian President Vladimir Putin sent his more than 150,000 arrayed troops across the border, it soon became clear that a dual reassessment was in order: The Russian invaders were less potent than advertised, and the Ukrainians were unexpectedly stubborn and wily in the defense.

Some of the Russian troops weren’t even aware they were on a combat mission until Ukrainian bullets came cracking past them, according to U.S. officials. Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces stalled a massive Russian supply convoy through direct attacks and by destroying a key bridge. Only one week into the invasion, Putin's men were plagued with food and fuel shortages, morale running similarly low.

Kyiv stood.

"Putin assumed that Ukraine was an easy target, Putin assumed that Kyiv would easily fall, and Putin assumed that the world would stand by," U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said during a speech in Brussels last week. "But the Kremlin was wrong on every count."

Ukrainian forces were armed with more than grit.

They also had years of U.S. and NATO military training, plus American-made weapons, like anti-armor Javelins and anti-aircraft Stinger missiles. These made Russian vehicles vulnerable to ambush, and left Russian helicopter and jet pilots wary of flying over Ukrainian positions. Indeed, many airmen did not return from their sorties.

Despite astonishing losses of soldiers and vehicles, Putin has shown no inclination to end the conflict anytime soon. And despite its tenacity, Ukraine has also taken significant casualties, and is not able to produce enough of its own weapons and ammunition to keep up the fight.

Ukraine, after thwarting the advance on its capital, and later routing Russian forces from Kharkiv, now largely faces a battle of supply.

"When this war began, Russia had a larger population, a much bigger defense budget, a bigger military, bigger industrial base. So, this became an industrial war and a war of industrial bases," said Seth Jones, director of the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "This is why Western industrial support has been so critical."

A key question now is, despite massive military aid packages and a promise to send even more, could the U.S. strategy ultimately result, not in a Ukrainian victory, but a stalemate in a years-long war of attrition?

-ABC News' Matt Seyler


If Ukraine's partners keep their word on aid, Ukraine will 'definitely win,' Zelenskyy says

Asked if he believes in victory, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country "definitely" will if fellow nations keep their word about help and aid.

"Luckily, we’re not alone, so all of us should stay focused," Zelenskyy said.

Zelenskyy also said Ukraine has "put forward its peace plan, peace formula," which is "supported by many nations."

Rather than having bilateral peace negotiations, Zelenskyy suggested a "peace forum with participation of many countries from different continents."

"I’d like to see China, India, other countries approving post-war security guarantees," Zelenskyy said.

-ABC News' Fidel Pavlenko


Russian strikes on Ukrainian cities kill 25, including children

Russian airstrikes targeted several cities across Ukraine early Friday, killing at least 25 people, Ukrainian officials said.

The city of Uman in central Ukraine's Cherkasy Oblast was the worst affected. Several buildings were damaged or destroyed. One of the strikes hit an apartment building, killing at least 23 people, including four children, and injuring another 18 people, according to Cherkasy Oblast Gov. Ihor Taburets. The attack happened at around 4:30 a.m. local time, when most people would have been asleep. An entire section of the nine-story building collapsed, with 27 apartments completely destroyed. There were 109 people who lived in that part of the building, according to Ukrainian police. Rescue teams were expected to spend all day and night searching for survivors in the rubble.

It was the deadliest single attack on civilians in Ukraine since January.

Dnipro, Ukraine's fourth-largest city and a major industrial hub located in southeastern Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, was hit by "high-precision" strikes in the early morning hours, leaving a woman and a 3-year-old child dead, according to Dnipro Mayor Boris Filatov.

Russian strikes also targeted Kyiv, Ukraine's capital and largest city, but there were no reports of any casualties or damages. It was the first such attack on the capital in 51 days, according to the Kyiv City Military Administration. Preliminary data shows 11 cruise missiles and two drones were destroyed in Kyiv's airspace, the city military administration said.

-ABC News' Yulia Drozd, Will Gretsky, Natalia Kushnir and Joe Simonetti