Russia-Ukraine updates: Russian missile strikes hit multiple Ukrainian cities
Dozens of injuries were reported in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities.
Russia has continued a nearly 19-month-long invasion of neighboring Ukraine. Recently, though, the Ukrainians have gone on a counteroffensive, fighting to reclaim occupied territory.
For previous coverage, please click here.
Latest headlines:
Military stopped 'civil war,' Putin says
The Russian military and security forces stopped what could have become a "civil war," President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday.
"The Russian military in a difficult hour for the country stood in the way of turmoil, the result of which would be chaos," Putin said at an event for military units, adding that "the military and law enforcement officers of the Russian Federation actually stopped the civil war."
Defense Minister Shoigu, who the Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin's had sought to have replaced, was present at Tuesday's ceremony.
-ABC News' Tanya Stukalova
Russia closes case against Wagner Group leader
The Russian Federal Security Service on Tuesday dropped the criminal case investigating the rebellion by Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin and his forces.
The FSB said it closed the case because it has been established that participants stopped actions directly aimed at committing a crime.
-ABC News’ Anastasia Bagaeva
Belarus was 'combat' ready during rebellion, president says
The military in Belarus was ordered to "full combat readiness" during the Wagner Group's rebellion in neighboring Russia, President Alexander Lukashenko said.
Lukashenko, a longtime ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was said to have helped broker a deal to halt the choatic rebellion by Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin.
"I will not hide, it was painful to watch the events that took place in the south of Russia," Lukashenko said Tuesday during brief remarks before a military presentation. "Not only me. Many of our citizens took them to heart. Because the fatherland is one."
The fatherland comment appeared to allude to Lukashenko's longstanding belief that Russia and Belarus share a special bond.
He added, "I gave all orders to bring the army to full combat readiness."
-ABC News' Victoria Beaule
US to announce $500M in military aid to Ukraine, official says
The U.S. will announce another military aid package for Ukraine Tuesday, a U.S. official told ABC News.
The $500 million aid package will include 30 Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles, 25 Stryker armored vehicles, missiles for the HIMARS system and the Patriot air defense system, TOW missiles, Javelins and more ammunition for artillery, according to the official.
This will be the 41st aid package under the Presidential Drawdown Authority that allows the transfer of weapons from U.S. military stockpiles to Ukraine.
-ABC News' Luis Martinez
US 'prepared to defend every inch of NATO territory' against Russia
The United States "is prepared to defend every inch of NATO territory," National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Wednesday, amid Russia's threats of military retaliation if Sweden and Ukraine officially join the alliance.
"At the end of the day, Russia does not get a vote in who joins NATO," Sullivan told ABC News' George Stephanopoulos during an interview Wednesday on "Good Morning America."
"If Russia does choose to test Article 5, President Biden has said he is prepared to defend every inch of NATO territory," he added. "And later tonight, when he addresses a large crowd in Vilnius in a speech about his vision for Euro-Atlantic security and for American leadership, he will reinforce this point about the sanctity of Article 5."
Article 5 of the NATO treaty states that the signed parties "agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all."
Sweden and Finland, which have historically embraced neutrality, applied for NATO membership together last year despite warnings from Moscow against doing so, as Russian forces invaded Ukraine. Finland officially joined the alliance in April following Turkish ratification, but Turkey and Hungary have yet to ratify Sweden’s membership. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg announced Monday that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has agreed to send Sweden’s NATO accession documents to Turkey’s Parliament for approval "as soon as possible," one of the last steps in the membership process.
Meanwhile, Ukraine is pushing hard for NATO membership as Russia’s war presses on. Stoltenberg announced Tuesday that the bloc "will issue an invitation for Ukraine to join NATO when allies agree and conditions are met," pledging to speed up the process by eliminating bureaucratic hurdles, but without offering a timeline.
"All 31 allies got together yesterday to say with one voice that Ukraine's future is in NATO. The real question is just how we work down the pathway to get them in," Sullivan told ABC News on Wednesday. "So the signal that NATO sent yesterday was very positive to Ukraine about its future prospects for joining NATO, and we will work in terms of the democratic and security sector reforms that are necessary. And in the meantime, we're not just going to sit around. We're going to provide Ukraine with the weapons and military assistance it needs to defend its territory against Russia and to deter future aggression from Russia."
Ukraine has requested F-16 fighter jets and long-range missiles to aid its counteroffensive against Russian forces. Sullivan said the U.S. has already taken steps with NATO allies to begin the training of Ukrainian pilots on F-16s, which "will take some time," and then the aircraft will be transferred to Ukraine "likely from European countries that have excess F-16 supplies." As for the long-range missiles, Sullivan said the U.S. will continue to look into the issue and discuss it with Ukraine.