Russia-Ukraine updates: 2 US veterans who joined Ukrainian forces missing

Russia will hold its annual Victory Day on Monday, a national holiday under Russian President Vladimir Putin that marks the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.

From the start, the Kremlin had hoped to use Victory Day to celebrate its own triumph in Ukraine, but Russia’s offensive to take Donbas has badly stalled. Instead, the Kremlin is expected to use the day to try to galvanize support among Russians for the war.

The day is being watched closely because how Putin sells the war could give a sense of how long the Kremlin wants to fight.

Ukraine, Western countries and many experts fear Putin might use Victory Day to declare a national mobilization -- without which many military analysts doubt Russia can achieve even its already curtailed goals in Ukraine.

If Putin does not use Victory Day to declare a general mobilization, that could suggest the Kremlin doesn’t believe it has the political strength at home right now to do so.

-ABC News' Patrick Reevell

Russia’s offensive in eastern Ukraine could be just as dangerous as its failed first offensive north of Kyiv, CIA Director William Burns said Saturday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is "in a frame of mind that he thinks he cannot afford to lose, so the stakes are quite high in this phase," Burns said during an event in Washington, D.C., hosted by the Financial Times.

Burns said he does not think that Putin has been deterred by the huge amount of Western military support for Ukraine and the resolve of Ukraine’s population and its military.

"I don't think this means that, you know, Putin is deterred at this point, because he staked so much on the choice that he made to launch this invasion that I think he's convinced right now that doubling down still will enable him to make progress," he said.

Burns called Putin's invasion a "profound mistake."

"It was Putin's biggest mistake in planning for this invasion," he said. "And then in launching it, don't underestimate Ukrainians. And I think it's equally a mistake for any of us to underestimate what they bring to the table in intelligence terms in defending their own country."

-ABC News' Luis Martinez

A Russian bomb hit a school in eastern Ukraine where about 90 people had taken shelter, according to a local official.

About 30 people have been rescued so far following the shelling Saturday in the village of Bilohorivka, said Serhiy Haidai, the regional governor of Luhansk.

Two bodies were found under the rubble, Ukraine's emergency services said.

The rescue operation will resume on Sunday.

-ABC News' Jason Volack

All women, children and the elderly have been evacuated from the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol which has been long besieged by Russian forces, Iryna Vereshchuk, Ukraine's deputy prime minister, said Saturday.

"The president's order has been carried out: all women, children and the elderly have been evacuated from Azovstal. This part of the Mariupol humanitarian operation has been completed," Vereshchuk said in a statement posted on telegram.

Since Thursday, 51 people -- including 11 children -- have been evacuated from the plant, according to Russia's Ministry of Defense.

-ABC News' Jason Volack