Russia-Ukraine updates: 2 US veterans who joined Ukrainian forces missing
The Americans, Andy Tai Ngoc Huynh and Alexander Drueke, are both from Alabama.
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.
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Russian shelling on residential areas of Kramatorsk injures 25, officials say
At least 25 civilians were injured by Russian shelling on residential areas and the central part of Kramatorsk on Wednesday night, according to the local city council.
Six of the wounded required hospitalization, and at least nine homes, a school as well as various civilian infrastructure sustained damaged, the Kramatorsk City Council said in a statement via Telegram.
Kramatorsk Mayor Oleksandr Honcharenko confirmed in a statement via Facebook that a kindergarten was seriously damaged.
Kramatorsk is a city in eastern Ukraine's war-torn Donetsk Oblast.
-ABC News' Max Uzol
Over 300 civilians evacuated from Mariupol, surrounding areas
More than 300 civilians have been evacuated from the besieged Ukrainian port city of Mariupol and surrounding areas, officials said late Wednesday.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said it facilitated the safe passage of the civilians in coordination with the United Nations and both sides of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The evacuees arrived Wednesday in Zaporizhzhia, a Ukrainian government-controlled city about 140 miles northwest of Mariupol.
"We are relieved that more lives have been spared," Pascal Hundt, the ICRC's head of delegation in Ukraine, said in a statement Wednesday night. "We welcome the renewed efforts of the parties with regards to safe passage operations. They remain crucial and urgent in light of the immense suffering of the civilians."
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk confirmed that 344 people were evacuated to Zaporizhzhia from the Mariupol area, Manhush, Berdyansk, Tokmak and Vasylivka.
The evacuation did not include civilians trapped inside the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works plant, the last pocket of Ukrainian resistance in Mariupol.
-ABC News' Natalya Kushnir and Cindy Smith
Heavy fighting ongoing at Mariupol plant
Ukrainian military officer Denys Procopenko said Russians have breached the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works plant in Mariupol, where hundreds of civilians remain.
He said heavy fighting is ongoing.
Procopenko is commander of the Azov regiment, which is a far-right paramilitary that's now incorporated into Ukrainian government security forces.
Russia to open humanitarian corridor for civilians to leave plant
The Russian Defense Ministry said a humanitarian corridor will open this week for the evacuation of civilians from the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works plant in Mariupol.
The humanitarian corridor will be open Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Moscow time.
Russia said its forces will "cease any hostilities" during that time.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke with United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on Wednesday, asking for the U.N.'s help in evacuating "all the wounded" from the plant.
"The lives of the people who remain there are in danger. Everyone is important to us," Zelenskyy said, according to a statement from his office.
Hundreds of civilians are believed to be trapped in the plant.
The plant, which stretches over 4.2 square miles, has been facing bombardment and shelling. It's the last pocket of Ukrainian resistance in Mariupol; Russia claimed Wednesday that its military had taken complete control of the city.