Russia-Ukraine updates: Russian missiles hit close to nuclear reactors: IAEA director

Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska spoke to members of Congress on Capitol Hill Wednesday, saying, "Usually the wives of president are exclusively engaged in peaceful affairs: education, human rights, equality, accessibility. And maybe you expected for me to speak on those topics. But how can I talk about them when an unprovoked invasive terrorist war is being waged against my country?"

Zelenska said this marks the first time the wife of a president of a foreign county addressed members of Congress on the Hill.

Zelenska showed members of Congress several images and stories of carnage impacting civilians, including a photo of 4-year-old Liza who was killed by a Russian missile attack last week.

Liza's mother was seriously hurt, and "for several days, nobody dared to tell her that Liza has died," Zelenska said.

She highlighted an Odesa family who lost three generations of women to one missile, and a 96-year-old who survived Nazi concentration camps only to be killed in Kharkiv.

The first lady asked Congress to supply more air defense systems.

"Will my son be able to return to school in the fall? I don't know, like millions of mothers in Ukraine. Will my daughter will be able to go to university at the beginning of the academic year and experience normal student life? I cannot answer," she said. "We will have answers if we had air defense systems."

"America, unfortunately, knows from its own experience what terrorist attacks are and has always sought to defeat terrorists. Help us to stop this terror against Ukrainians," she said.

Zelenska received a standing ovation after her remarks.

3:37

Ukraine’s first lady addresses CongressUkrainian first lady Olena Zelenska delivered remarks to members of Congress on Congress on Capitol Hill.

ABCNews.com

The U.S. will send four more HIMARS advanced rocket systems to Ukraine as part of the new presidential drawdown package coming later this week, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced Wednesday.

Once these four long-range rocket artillery systems arrive, Ukraine will have a total of 16 HIMARS at its disposal.

Austin said these advanced rocket systems “have made such a difference on the battlefield.”

The new package will also include more ammunition for the HIMARS and for the 155 mm artillery weapons the U.S. and other countries have sent to Ukraine, Austin said at the fourth Ukraine defense contact group meeting, with leaders from roughly 50 nations in virtual attendance.

Austin praised the United Kingdom, Germany and Poland in particular for helping Ukraine boost its ability to hit faraway targets.

-ABC News’ Matt Seyler

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden greeted Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska at the White House Tuesday afternoon.

Zelenska was presented with a bouquet of flowers in Ukrainian colors: yellow sunflowers, blue hydrangeas and white orchids.

Oksana Markarova, the Ukrainian ambassador to the U.S., arrived with Zelenska.

Jill Biden and second gentleman Doug Emhoff then held a bilateral meeting with the Ukrainian delegation. Jill Biden said they'll discuss mental health issues for mothers and children who have "suffered such tragedy and the atrocities" during the war.

Zelenska will address Congress on Wednesday.

-ABC News' John Parkinson

Ukrainian forces have "stabilized" the situation along the front line in the eastern and southeastern regions of the country, in large part thanks to U.S.-supplied HIMARS rocket launchers, the Ukrainian military said on Monday.

“We managed to stabilize the situation. It is complex, intense, but completely controlled,” Valery Zaluzhny, the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, said.

An important factor contributing to Ukraine's retention of its defensive lines and positions is the timely arrival of U.S. supplied M142 HIMARS -- High Mobility Artillery Rocket System -- rocket launchers, Zaluzhny added. These highly precise and modern weapons have been delivering “targeted strikes” on Russian “control points, ammunition and fuel storage depots,” the top commander added.

Ukrainian troops struck a Russian military facility in the area of ​​an asphalt plant in the eastern town of Nova Kakhovka on Monday, Ukrainian military officials said. Ukrainian forces also hit an administrative building and a hangar filled with Russian fuel tankers in the southern town of Beryslav, killing more than 100 Russian soldiers, the Ukrainian military said on Monday.

Russian forces shelled the town of Nikopol in the Dnipropetrovsk region about 40 times on Monday night, local authorities said. Explosions were also reported in the Odesa region, injuring several civilians. Russian troops also fired cluster shells at the city of Mykolaiv late on Monday.

Russia's stated immediate objective is to seize all of the Donetsk region, the U.K. Ministry of Defense said on Tuesday. Even if Russian troops make further territorial gains, the tempo of their advance is likely to be very slow, the ministry added.

Russian units, severely under-manned, face a dilemma between deploying more forces to the Donbas or defending against Ukrainian counter-attacks in the Kherson area, the observers said.

-ABC News' Edward Szekeres, Yulia Drozd, Max Uzol and Yuriy Zaliznyak