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.
May 04, 2022, 2:51 PM EDT
Russian strikes attempt to hamper Ukrainian resupply efforts: UK
Britain's Ministry of Defense is claiming that Russian missile strikes across Ukraine are an attempt to hamper Ukrainian resupply efforts.
As Russian forces struggled, they targeted civilians, including at homes, transit hubs, schools and hospitals, "in an attempt to weaken Ukrainian resolve," the Ministry of Defense's intelligence update said.
The U.K. believes Russia's focus on Odesa, Kherson and Mariupol reflect its "desire to fully control access to the Black Sea, which would enable them to control Ukraine’s sea lines of communication, negatively impacting their economy," the intelligence update said.
Russian troops have entered part of the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works plant in Mariupol, Ukraine's chief negotiator with Russia, David Arakhamia, said in an interview with Ukraine's Radio Liberty on Wednesday.
The plant continues to come under bombardment and shelling, he said.
Smoke rises above a plant of Azovstal Iron and Steel Works during Ukraine-Russia conflict in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine, April 21, 2022.
Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters
The plant, which stretches over 4.2 square miles, is the last pocket of Ukrainian resistance in Mariupol. Russia claimed Wednesday that its military had taken complete control of Mauripol, a strategic port city in Ukraine's war-torn east.
This is the first time it appears that Russian soldiers have successfully entered the plant. It is not clear how many soldiers entered or where.
-ABC News' Fidel Pavlenko
May 04, 2022, 12:26 PM EDT
Ukraine claims Russia plans to hold WWII Victory Day parade in Mariupol
Ukraine's military intelligence claims Russia is planning to hold a World War II Victory Day parade in Mariupol on May 9. The military intelligence said streets are being cleared of bodies and debris.
Russia claimed Wednesday that its military has taken complete control of Mariupol, a strategic port city in Ukraine's war-torn east.
People walk past cars damaged during Ukraine-Russia conflict in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine, April 21, 2022.
Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters
Emergency management specialists carry the body of a person killed during Ukraine-Russia conflict in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine, April 21, 2022.
Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters
May 9 is a major holiday in Russia known as Victory Day, commemorating the country's victory over the Nazis. It's usually celebrated with a military parade in Moscow and a speech by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Last week, British Defense Minister Ben Wallace told LBC Radio that Putin will "probably" use the occasion to declare war. Russia has maintained that it's carrying out "special military operations" in Ukraine and hasn't declared war. In a call with reporters Wednesday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said claims Russia will declare a general mobilization are "absurd."
-ABC News' Yuriy Zaliznyak
May 04, 2022, 11:41 AM EDT
Russia claims to have taken full control of Mariupol, 'securely blocked' steel plant
Russia claimed Wednesday that its military has taken complete control of Mariupol, a strategic port city in Ukraine's war-torn east.
"Peaceful life is being established in the territories of the LPR and DPR and Ukraine liberated from nationalists, including Mariupol, the largest industrial and transport hub on the Sea of Azov," Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said during a teleconference. "It is under the control of the Russian army."
According to Shoigu, Russian forces have "securely blocked" remaining Ukrainian fighters on the grounds of the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works plant in Mariupol. The sprawling industrial site, which includes a maze of underground tunnels and bunkers, is the last pocket of Ukrainian resistance in Mariupol.
"In accordance with the instructions of the supreme commander, the remnants of the militants located in the industrial zone of the Azovstal plant are securely blocked around the entire perimeter of this territory," Shoigu told reporters. "Repeated proposals to the nationalists to release civilians and lay down their arms with a guarantee of saving lives and decent treatment in accordance with international law, they have ignored. We continue these attempts."
A satellite image shows damage at the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works plant in Mariupol, eastern Ukraine, May 4, 2022, amid Russia's invasion.
Planet Labs PBC/AP
During a daily briefing call later Wednesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the situation at the blockaded plant hadn't changed and denied reports that Russian forces had begun storming the bombed-out territory, but said they have seen sporadic attempts by Ukrainian fighters to open fire.
"The supreme commander-in-chief has publicly ordered that the storm be canceled. There is no storm," Peksov told reporters. "We can see that escalations happen as the fighters come to firing positions. These attempts are suppressed quite rapidly."
ABC News recently spoke with Denys Prokopenko, a commander of the Azov Regiment, a far-right group now part of the Ukrainian military that was among the units defending Mariupol and is holed up inside the Azovstal plant with others. He said the fighters inside have tried to initiate a cease-fire to create conditions to allow people to flee but have yet to surrender, despite the odds. There are a number of people wounded and dead inside the plant, with some out of reach after sections of a bunker collapsed from Russian bombardment, according to Prokopenko.
"We are in full blockade, full circle of surrounding and we are under fire and the city is under fire," Prokopenko told ABC News.
Earlier this week, a humanitarian convoy evacuated more than 100 civilians from the Azovstal plant and escorted them safely to Zaporizhzhia, a Ukrainian government-controlled city located about 140 miles northwest of Mariupol. Hundreds more civilians remain trapped inside the plant and Russian forces have resumed shelling of the area, according to Ukrainian officials.
-ABC News' Clark Bentson, Dragana Jovanovic and Ian Pannell
