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Over 3 million refugees have been forced to flee Ukraine. The IRC is on the ground in Poland supporting displaced children and families with vital supplies.

Your gift will help us provide food, medical care and emergency support services to families whose lives are shattered by conflict in countries like Ukraine, Afghanistan, Syria, and Yemen. Please give what you can today.

Your gift will help us provide food, medical care, and emergency support services to families whose lives are shattered by conflict in countries like Ukraine, Afghanistan, Syria, and Yemen. Please give today.

Your gift allows us to deliver comprehensive help to people affected by humanitarian crises and will be used where and when most needed. And, when combined with those of other donors, your gift becomes a powerful means to support our vital work, including education, health care, emergency support and job training for families in crisis worldwide.

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Over 3 million refugees have been forced to flee Ukraine. The IRC is on the ground in Poland supporting displaced children and families with vital supplies. Your gift will help us provide food, medical care and emergency support services to families whose lives are shattered by conflict in countries like Ukraine, Afghanistan, Syria, and Yemen.

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What’s the Situation for Kids in Ukraine?

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Conflict in Ukraine has impacted the lives of children for far too long. Donate to help Save the Children provide essential humanitarian aid to children and families.

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UKRAINE EMERGENCY: Save lives with your gift now

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Join me in helping save lives by delivering food to Ukrainians in need from the war. Make a difference today by donating to the World Food Program USA.

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“My dad and his side of the family immigrated to America from Ukraine... I thought it would be meaningful to invite my dad and my extended family to share their thoughts, hopes, and opinions on the war.”

Leah has done a series called “Stories with Me: Immigration Story Podcast” in which she interviews members of her family, including her grandparents.

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Pray For Ukraine - by Leah - Final Draft by Gayle Cole

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Hello! I’m Leah with an interesting story to share! My dad and his side of the family immigrated to America from Ukraine. As most of you know, there is a horrible war happening in Ukraine against Russia. I thought it would be meaningful to invite my dad and my extended family to share their thoughts, hopes, and opinions on the war. Today you will hear my dad, aunt, and grandparents spill their hearts out and share their Ukrainian points of view that are worth listening to! Thank you and enjoy the podcast!

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Kyiv March 17, 1:02 p.m.

Moscow March 17, 2:02 p.m.

Washington March 17, 7:02 a.m.

Children sheltering in a theater, parents waiting in line for bread and people simply seeking a night's rest in their homes have become the latest civilians killed or feared dead in Ukraine as Russian forces taking heavy losses on the battlefield increasingly aim their bombs and missiles at towns and cities.

Rescuers on Thursday began pulling survivors from the wreckage of a theater in the besieged port city of Mariupol, an adviser to the city's mayor said, a day after an apparent rocket attack destroyed the building where hundreds of people were believed to be taking shelter. The extent of casualties was unknown as Russian forces continued to shell the area, he said, hampering recovery efforts.

In an overnight address, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine alleged that a Russian aircraft had "purposefully dropped a huge bomb" on the theater. "Our hearts are broken by what Russia is doing to our people, to our Mariupol," he said.

Mr. Zelensky's comments came a day after he delivered an impassioned video speech to Congress, beseeching the United States to send Ukraine more military aid, after which President Biden pledged hundreds of millions of dollars in additional assistance. Mr. Biden for the first time labeled President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia a "war criminal," and Mr. Putin, in turn, denounced pro-Western Russians as "scum and traitors" who should be purged, in a haunting address that raised the specter of Stalin's campaign of terror that led to the execution of hundreds of thousands in the last century.

The escalating clash of words was a dim portent for cease-fire talks between Russia and Ukraine that entered their fourth day on Thursday, despite conciliatory public statements by negotiators from both sides. And they mirrored the increasingly brutal war of attrition unfolding on the ground and in the air, with fierce battles raging in the suburbs of Kyiv, Ukrainian forces claiming to have shot down more Russian aircraft, and Russian warships on the Black Sea launching missiles at towns around the southern city of Odessa.

Here are the latest developments:

The battle for the skies above Kyiv raged overnight on Thursday, with the Ukrainian military claiming to have shot down 10 Russian planes and cruise missiles over the city. The remnants of one rocket tore through a residential high-rise and killed at least one person, officials said.

British intelligence reports say that Russian forces have "made minimal progress on land, sea or air in recent days," and that they "continue to suffer heavy losses." Still, Russian forces have taken control of large sections of Ukraine, particularly in the east and south.

The Pentagon estimated that in three weeks of fighting, 7,000 Russian soldiers have been killed - greater than the number of American troops killed over 20 years in Iraq and Afghanistan.

U.S. and European officials that the Biden administration would provide Ukraine with more high-tech defensive weapons that are easily portable and require little training to use against Russian tanks, armored vehicles and aircraft.

The United Nations Security Council was scheduled to hold an emergency meeting on Thursday afternoon to discuss the worsening humanitarian situation in Ukraine and the status of the more than three million refugees, according to a diplomat familiar with the meeting.

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Russia's finance ministry said on Thursday that it had made a $117 million payment on interest due on two U.S. dollar-denominated bonds. The payments are due this week to prevent Russia's first default on foreign debt since the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution.

The ministry said the payment had been made to a "foreign correspondent bank" on Monday, but it was unclear whether the bondholders will receive the money. The ministry said it would provide an update later from Citibank's London branch, which it said was the paying agent on the bonds.

The country has about $40 billion in sovereign debt, half of which is owned by overseas investors.

The government has a 30-day grace period to make this week's payments before a default is confirmed. It has said that if Western sanctions prevent it from paying the money in dollars, it will pay in rubles instead.

Fitch Ratings said on Tuesday that payment in rubles for debt owed in dollars would be considered a default.

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As the fighting grinds on in Ukraine and there is no clear end in sight, what are the potential paths forward in the coming days and weeks? President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine proposed one such path in a video address to Congress on Wednesday, though it is an incredibly unlikely one: a no-fly zone over Ukraine. Elsewhere, New York Times reporting has suggested four other potential scenarios: a diplomatic end to the conflict; protracted monthslong fighting; China's coming to Russia's rescue; and President Vladimir V. Putin expanding the conflict beyond Ukraine's borders.

A new episode of "The Daily'" podcast explores these scenarios and consider which of them is most likely to occur.

Listen to 'The Daily': Four Paths Forward for Ukraine

How might the war in Ukraine unfold in the coming weeks or, potentially, months?

Indian officials said the country's wheat exports were seeing a sharp increase as global prices shot up in the aftermath of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Russia and Ukraine combined provide more than a quarter of the global wheat market, which is estimated at about 200 million metric tons for the year. With Ukraine banning exports to avoid food shortages and a humanitarian crisis at home and the war affecting broader supply chains, many countries are now looking elsewhere to buy wheat.

India often has a surplus of grain, which the government buys from farmers at minimum guaranteed prices. Exports have typically remained relatively small because the price of wheat is usually lower in the international market. The sudden hike in global wheat prices has increased the demand for Indian wheat and made it competitive for export, said Sudhanshu Pandey, India's secretary of food and public distribution.

Mr. Pandey said India was on course to export about seven million metric tons of wheat for the fiscal year that ends on March 31, compared with two million metric tons last year. He said they were preparing for at least 10 million metric tons of wheat for the next fiscal year.

"The way export contracts are being executed by private parties is an indication that the demand for Indian wheat has gone up," Mr. Pandey said. "We hope that this year the export of wheat will be the highest ever."

He said the conflict in Ukraine had been the major trigger, as it had sent many countries scrambling to secure wheat supplies for the winter.

"All countries that used to get supplies in August and September - and that wheat used to feed them for winter - they have to finalize their plans now," Mr. Pandey said. "If in September they don't get supplies, it becomes very critical for them in the winter months."

India has tried to maintain a difficult balancing act since the invasion, refusing to support international sanctions against Russia while also remaining engaged with Ukraine and the West.

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WASHINGTON - Russia's military has in three weeks lost more than 7,000 soldiers, roughly the same as the number of American Marines killed during the monthlong battle for Iwo Jima, and greater than the number of American troops killed over 20 years in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to American intelligence estimates.

The American officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss operational matters, caution that their numbers of Russian troop deaths are inexact, compiled through analysis of the news media, Ukrainian figures (which tend to be high, with the latest at 13,500), Russian figures (which tend to be low, with the latest at 498), satellite imagery and careful perusal of video images of Russian tanks and troops that come under fire.

American military and intelligence officials know, for instance, how many troops are usually in a tank, and can extrapolate from that the number of casualties when an armored vehicle is hit by, say, a Javelin anti-tank missile.

Pentagon officials say a 10 percent casualty rate, including dead and wounded, renders a single unit unable to carry out combat-related tasks.

With more than 150,000 Russian troops now involved in the war in Ukraine, Russian casualties, when including an estimated 14,000 to 21,000 injured, are near that level. And the Russian military has also lost at least three generals in the fight, according to Ukrainian, NATO and Russian officials.

Pentagon officials say that a high, and rising, number of war dead can destroy the will to continue fighting. The result, they say, has shown up in intelligence reports that senior officials in the Biden administration read every day: One recent report focused on low morale among Russian troops and described soldiers just parking their vehicles and walking off into the woods.

A high rate of casualties goes far to explain why Russia's much-vaunted force has remained largely stalled outside of Kyiv, Ukraine's capital.

"Losses like this affect morale and unit cohesion, especially since these soldiers don't understand why they're fighting," said Evelyn Farkas, the top Pentagon official for Russia and Ukraine during the Obama administration. "Your overall situational awareness decreases. Someone's got to drive, someone's got to shoot."

Russia's aerial bombardment, officials say, has helped camouflage the military's poor performance on the ground. President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said this week that an estimated 1,300 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed in the war.

Russians themselves may be hearing only what Mr. Putin wants them to hear. Since the invasion began, he has exerted iron control over the news outlets in Russia; state media is not publicizing most casualties, and has minimized the destruction.

But some Russians have access to virtual private networks, or VPNS, and are able to get news from the West.

Reality "began to puncture that bubble," William J. Burns, the C.I.A. director, told the Senate last Thursday, detailing the toll: "the realities of killed and wounded coming home, and the increasing number, the realities of the economic consequences for ordinary Russians, the realities of the horrific scenes of hospitals and schools being bombed next door in Ukraine, and of civilian casualties there as well."

The news of the generals' deaths is trickling out, first from Ukrainians, then confirmed by NATO officials, with one death acknowledged by Mr. Putin in a speech.

Western officials say that around 20 Russian generals were in Ukraine as part of the war effort, and that they may have pushed closer to the front to boost morale.

Two American military officials said that many Russian generals are talking on unsecured phones and radios. In at least one instance, they said, the Ukrainians intercepted a general's call, geolocated it, and attacked his location, killing him and his staff.

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WASHINGTON - The Biden administration will provide Ukraine with additional high-tech defensive weapons that are easily portable and require little training to use against Russian tanks, armored vehicles and aircraft, according to U.S. and European officials.

In remarks on Wednesday, President Biden announced $800 million in new military aid for Ukraine, including 800 additional Stinger antiaircraft missiles, 9,000 antitank weapons, 100 tactical drones and a range of small arms including machine guns and grenade launchers.

The Ukrainians have already proved their prowess at using British-provided and American-made antitank weaponry against Russia's much larger military. But in an impassioned speech to Congress on Wednesday, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine asked for additional help as Russian troops pushed to encircle major cities.

U.S. and European officials want to send more equipment that is easy to use by small teams, and that has technology that can overcome Russian defenses or exploit weaknesses - rather than offensive weapons like tanks and warplanes that require significant logistical support. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to describe the details of the weapons transfer publicly.

In addition to sending its own equipment, the United States is helping coordinate donations from European countries. Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III is visiting Slovakia and Bulgaria this week in part to help with that effort.

Speaking to reporters Wednesday, a senior defense official said that the United States was focusing on sending supplies quickly, and that the Pentagon would figure out how to replenish its stockpiles later. The official said the focus now was to make sure that the Ukrainians get the items quickly. The Ukrainian military needs easy-to-carry and easy-to-use defensive weapons to continue to stall the Russian advance. The Ukrainians will succeed, U.S. and European military experts said, if they can operate in small teams, strike assembled Russian forces, then melt away to set a new ambush later.

As part of the package, the Biden administration will provide Switchblade drones, according to people briefed on the plans. Military officials call the weapon, which is carried in a backpack, the "kamikaze drone" because it can be flown directly at a tank or a group of troops, and is destroyed when it hits the target and explodes.

"These were designed for U.S. Special Operations Command and are exactly the type of weapons systems that can have an immediate impact on the battlefield," said Mick Mulroy, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense.

Bigger, armed drones, like U.S.-made Predators or Reapers, would be difficult for Ukrainians to fly and would be easily destroyed by Russian fighter planes. But former officials said small, portable kamikaze drones could prove to be a cost-effective way to destroy Russian armored convoys.

The United States and its allies are trying to step up the flow of defensive weaponry to the Ukrainians and help them communicate more effectively by providing more gear.

The United States has said it has provided some communications gear - and Ukraine has said it wants more, including more tactical radios and jamming gear to help prevent Russian forces from talking to one another.

Ukraine had asked for additional MIG fighter planes but has backed off that request. American and European officials have said Ukraine's military is not flying all the planes it has.

Ukrainian officials, including Mr. Zelensky in his speech to Congress, emphasized their need for other equipment, an implicit acknowledgment that the war has moved to a new stage.

President Biden said on Wednesday that the United States would send an additional $800 million in military assistance to help Ukraine fight Russia. Credit... Kenny Holston for The New York Times

In addition to antiaircraft systems like the Stinger, Ukraine is requesting mobile air defense systems that can hit planes flying at higher altitudes, like the bombers that struck a training ground near the Polish border on Sunday.

Mr. Zelensky asked for the S-300, a Russian-made air defense system, which the United States could ask other nations to provide.

Mr. Austin will be talking with allies in Europe about ways they can give Ukraine additional air defense equipment, the senior defense official said.

The United States and its allies have already been providing ammunition for NATO-standard weapons and for those that were used by the former Soviet Union. While Ukraine has been modernizing its military, its state-owned defense industry continues to make weaponry modeled on Soviet-era designs, such as Kalashnikov assault rifles. The new U.S. package will include small arms like rifles, pistols, machine guns and grenade launchers in both Eastern and Western standard calibers.

The American Javelin and Britain's NLAW antitank missiles take just hours to learn how to use and have proved effective in the hands of Ukraine's military, officials said.

The Ukrainians have been able to destroy so many Russian tanks and armored vehicles in large measure because they have good conceptual plans of how to use the antitank missiles and the bravery to employ them up close in battle, a British diplomat said in an interview on Wednesday.

The Ukrainians, the official said, "are fighting against an existential threat and they aren't giving up. They have the will."

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Ukraine Live Updates: Russia Pounds Civilian Targets as War Enters 4th Week

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Kyiv March 17, 1:02 p.m. Moscow March 17, 2:02 p.m. Washington March 17, 7:02 a.m. Children sheltering in a theater, parents waiting in line for bread and people simply seeking a night's rest in their homes have become the latest civilians killed or feared dead in Ukraine as Russian forces taking heavy losses on the battlefield increasingly aim their bombs and missiles at towns and cities.

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General Information on the Conflict (LIVE)

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General Information on the Conflict (LIVE)

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In the year and a half since Russia's full-scale invasion, Ukraine has recaptured 54 percent of occupied territory, while Russia still occupies 18 percent of the country. Ukraine's 2023 offensive has achieved minor territorial gains, but the frontlines have remained stable for almost a year. Both sides have dug in, making breakthroughs increasingly difficult, and the number of military casualties has climbed to an estimated half a million. Meanwhile, Russia continues to bombard Ukrainian cities and blockade its ports, and Ukraine has stepped up drone attacks on Russian ships and infrastructure. Since January 2022, Ukraine has received nearly $350 billion in aid, including $77 billion from the United States, though it warns of donor fatigue. Fighting and air strikes have inflicted nearly 22,000 civilian casualties, while 5.1 million people are internally displaced, and 6.2 million have fled Ukraine. 17.6 million people need humanitarian assistance.

Armed conflict in eastern Ukraine erupted in early 2014 following Russia's annexation of Crimea. The previous year, protests in Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, against Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych's decision to reject a deal for greater economic integration with the European Union (EU) were met with a violent crackdown by state security forces. The protests widened, escalating the conflict, and President Yanukovych fled the country in February 2014.

One month later, in March 2014, Russian troops took control of the Ukrainian region of Crimea. Russian President Vladimir Putin cited the need to protect the rights of Russian citizens and Russian speakers in Crimea and southeast Ukraine. Russia then formally annexed the peninsula after Crimeans voted to join the Russian Federation in a disputed local referendum. The crisis heightened ethnic divisions, and two months later, pro-Russian separatists in the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk held their own independence referendums.

Armed conflict in the regions quickly broke out between Russian-backed forces and the Ukrainian military. Russia denied military involvement, but both Ukraine and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) reported the buildup of Russian troops and military equipment near Donetsk and Russian cross-border shelling immediately following Crimea's annexation. The conflict transitioned to an active stalemate, with regular shelling and skirmishes occurring along frontlines separating Russian- and Ukrainian-controlled eastern border regions.

Beginning in February 2015, France, Germany, Russia, and Ukraine attempted to kickstart negotiations to bring an end to the violence through the Minsk Accords. The agreement framework included provisions for a ceasefire, withdrawal of heavy weaponry, and full Ukrainian government control throughout the conflict zone. Efforts to reach a diplomatic settlement and satisfactory resolution, however, were largely unsuccessful.

In April 2016, NATO announced the deployment of four battalions to Eastern Europe, rotating troops through Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland to deter possible future Russian aggression elsewhere on the continent, particularly in the Baltics. In September 2017, the United States also deployed two U.S. Army tank brigades to Poland to further bolster NATO's presence in the region.

In January 2018, the United States imposed new sanctions on twenty-one individuals-including a number of Russian officials-and nine companies linked to the conflict in eastern Ukraine. In March 2018, the U.S. Department of State approved the sale of anti-tank weapons to Ukraine, the first sale of lethal weaponry since the conflict began. In October 2018, Ukraine joined the United States and seven other NATO countries in a series of large-scale air exercises in western Ukraine. The exercises came after Russia held its own annual military exercises in September 2018, the largest since the fall of the Soviet Union.

In October 2021, months of intelligence gathering and observations of Russian troop movements, force build-up, and military contingency financing culminated in a White House briefing with U.S. intelligence, military, and diplomatic leaders on a near-certain mass-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. The only remaining questions were when the attack would take place and whether the United States would be able to convince allies to act preemptively. Both were answered on February 24, 2022, when Russian forces invaded a largely unprepared Ukraine after Russian President Vladimir Putin authorized a " special military operation " against the country. In his statement, Putin claimed that the goal of the operation was to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine and end the alleged genocide of Russians in Ukrainian territory.

In the days and weeks leading up to the invasion, the Joe Biden administration made the unconventional decision to reduce information-sharing constraints and allow for the broader dissemination of intelligence and findings, both with allies-including Ukraine-and publicly. The goal of this strategy was to bolster allied defenses and dissuade Russia from taking aggressive action. Commercial satellite imagery, social media posts, and published intelligence from November and December 2021 showed armor, missiles, and other heavy weaponry moving toward Ukraine with no official explanation from the Kremlin. By the end of 2021, more than one hundred thousand Russian troops were in place near the Russia-Ukraine border, with U.S. intelligence officials warning of a Russian invasion in early 2022. In mid-December 2021, Russia's foreign ministry called on the United States and NATO to cease military activity in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, commit to no further NATO expansion toward Russia, and prevent Ukraine from joining NATO in the future. The United States and other NATO allies rejected these demands and threatened to impose severe economic sanctions if Russia took aggressive action against Ukraine.

In early February 2022, satellite imagery showed the largest deployment of Russian troops to its border with Belarus since the end of the Cold War. Negotiations between the United States, Russia, and European powers-including France and Germany-failed to bring about a resolution. In late February 2022, the United States warned that Russia intended to invade Ukraine, citing Russia's growing military presence at the Russia-Ukraine border. President Putin then ordered troops to Luhansk and Donetsk, claiming the troops served a "peacekeeping" function. The United States responded by imposing sanctions on the regions and the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline a few days later. Nevertheless, just prior to the invasion, U.S. and Ukrainian leaders remained at odds regarding the nature and likelihood of an armed Russian threat, with Ukrainian officials playing down the possibility of an incursion and delaying the mobilization of their troops and reserve forces.

Since the summer of 2022, fighting has largely been confined to Ukraine's east and south, with Russian cruise missiles, bombs, cluster munitions, and thermobaric weapons devastating port cities along the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. The Russian seizure of several Ukrainian ports and subsequent blockade of Ukrainian food exports compounded an already acute global food crisis further exacerbated by climate change, inflation, and supply chain havoc. Prior to the conflict, Ukraine had been the largest supplier of commodities to the World Food Program (WFP), which provides food assistance to vulnerable populations. In July, Russia and Ukraine signed an agreement to free more than twenty million tons of grain from Russian-controlled Ukrainian ports. The first grain shipments to leave Ukraine since the Russian invasion departed from Odesa on August 1, 2022; they arrived in Russian-allied Syria on August 15, although their originally presumed destination had been Lebanon. On October 29, Russia suspended the grain deal in response to an alleged Ukrainian attack on Russian naval forces, which Ukraine called a "false pretext." Nonetheless, Russia did not enforce the blockade when Ukraine defiantly continued shipments, and Turkey quickly negotiated Russia's return to the deal, which has been consistently extended to date.

The current conflict has severely strained U.S.-Russia relations and increased the risk of a wider European conflict. Tensions are likely to increase between Russia and neighboring NATO member countries that would likely involve the United States, due to alliance security commitments. The conflict will also have broader ramifications for future cooperation on critical issues like arms control; cybersecurity; nuclear nonproliferation; global economic stability; energy security; counterterrorism; and political solutions in Syria, Libya, and elsewhere. Additionally, Russia's isolation has not only destabilized global energy and resource markets but also pushed the country to seek stronger strategic ties with those states (e.g., China) still willing to partner with it, largely in opposition to the West. The war has also compounded other global crises, with military operations and violence hindering the delivery and distribution of much-needed aid, including food, and exacerbating an already severe shortage of available global humanitarian assistance and resources.

On June 6, 2023, a breach in the Nova Kakhovka dam, sixty kilometers north of Kherson on the Dnipro River, caused severe flooding in southwest Ukraine, affecting over eighty thousand people who live in the riparian zone. Ukraine accuses Russia of blowing up the dam to prevent a southeastern offensive, while Russia claims Ukraine carried out the attack to deprive Crimea of water and distract from the battlefront. The Ukrainian dam operator says it has been destroyed beyond repair. Furthermore, the draining of the reservoir raises concerns over the availability of water to cool the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant reactors, though the cooling ponds are reportedly stable.

In June 2023, Ukraine launched a much-anticipated counteroffensive, attempting to break through Russian defenses eastward in Donetsk province, including around Bakhmut, and southward in Zaporizhzhia province, which forms the " land corridor" to Crimea. Zelenskyy said Ukraine aims to liberate 18 percent of occupied territory in the current phase, but Ukrainian forces have met stiff resistance and suffered heavy losses against hardened Russian defensive positions, air superiority, and minefields. Nonetheless, Ukraine has made small gains on the ground and has stepped up attacks on bridges to Crimea, Russian ships, and buildings in Moscow.

Since February 24, 2022, the United States has committed nearly forty billion dollars in security assistance to Ukraine, including nineteen billion in immediate military aid and sixteen billion in humanitarian aid. Additionally, in early 2023 the Biden administration approved the provision of increasingly advanced weaponry, such as the Patriot air defense system, crucial for defending against Russian airstrikes, and top-tier battle tanks. The United States has also dramatically increased U.S. troop presence in Europe, bringing the total to more than one hundred thousand. On June 8, 2023, in a joint press conference with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Biden said he believes the United States has the funds to "support Ukraine as long as it takes." A day later, the Department of Defense announced another 2.1 billion dollars in military aid. While the United Nations, Group of Seven member states, EU, and others continue to condemn Russia's actions and support Ukrainian forces, Russia has turned to countries like North Korea and Iran for intelligence and military equipment and continues to sell discounted oil and gas to India and China, among others.

By June 2023, the UN Human Rights Office recorded nearly nine thousand civilian deaths and over fifteen thousand civilian injuries since Russia's full-scale military invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. The violence has internally displaced nearly six million people and forced nearly eight million to flee to neighboring countries, including Moldova and Poland, a NATO country where the United States and other allies are helping to accommodate the influx of refugees.

On June 23, Putin faced a major internal challenge when Yevgeniy Prigozhin released a video claiming the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) shelled Wagner forces and announced a "march of justice" to unseat the military leadership. The mutiny follows months of tensions with the MoD, which Prigozhin often insulted and accused of not supplying adequate munitions, and an attempt by the MoD to reign in Wagner fighters. Wagner forces quickly occupied Rostov-on-Don and seized Russia's southern military headquarters. Wagner convoys then advanced more than halfway to Moscow; Putin declared the march " treason" and offered amnesty for soldiers who stopped. On June 24, Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko negotiated for Wagner soldiers to return to their bases and for Prigozhin to move to Belarus. Prigozhin's true aims remain unknown, but the incident left both the Wagner Group and Putin weakened.

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War in Ukraine | Global Conflict Tracker

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Understand the conflict in Ukraine since it erupted in 2014 and track the latest developments around Russian and U.S. involvement on the Global Conflict Tracker from the Center for Preventive Action.

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Dig deeper into the history of Ukraine with Yale historian Timothy Synder to understand the background of what has led to this moment in history.

Explore the centuries of bloodshed, foreign domination, and internal divisions have left Ukraine in a precarious position between East and West.

Russia is the biggest country in the world, spanning one-eighth of the earth's landmass. But where did it all begin? Alex Gendler explores the epic history of the Kievan Rus.

Vladimir Lenin overthrew Russian Czar Nicholas II and founded the Soviet Union, forever changing the course of Russian politics. But was he a hero who toppled an oppressive tyranny or a villain who replaced it with another? Put this controversial figure on trial with History vs. Lenin.

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The history of the Ukraine-Russia crisis explained

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The story of the Ukraine-Russia crisis does not begin in 2022 or 2014- it begins in the 9th century. There was a time when the two countries were one. Explore a brief history of Russian control and the ongoing fight for Ukrainian independence. Palki Sharma Upadhyay of WION explains why Putin wants Ukraine.

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President Biden signs an authorization for assistance to Ukraine. In attendance were Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark A. Milley. (Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post)

President Biden explicitly called Russian President Vladimir Putin a "war criminal" Wednesday, after weeks of avoiding the term and at a time when his administration is still determining whether that label officially applies.

Biden made the dramatic accusation seemingly off the cuff, in response to a reporter's shouted question at an afternoon event on an entirely different topic. "I think he is a war criminal," Biden said, after delivering comments on the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act.

What are war crimes - and could Russia be committing them in Ukraine?

The asseveration was emblematic of the day's high emotions and dramatic agenda, which weredriven by a forceful speech to Congress delivered by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, rather than by Biden's own carefully laid plans and message.

Biden watched Zelensky's 9 a.m. address from the private library of his White House residence, absorbing an emotional plea that invoked both Pearl Harbor and Sept. 11 - two deadly attacks on the United States that came from the sky - and beseeched the president to close the skies above Ukraine.

"Our country experienced the same every day, right now, at this moment, every night for three weeks now," Zelensky said, speaking to lawmakers via video with the help of an interpreter.

Analysis: Zelensky puts Biden on the spot with passionate speech

Almost exactly four hours later, Biden responded with own remarks praising Zelensky's "passionate" and "significant" speech, outlining the help his administration is providing Ukraine and announcing significant new aid. But he also made clear that the crux of Zelensky's appeal - a no-fly zone above Ukraine - remains a nonstarter for the United States.

Biden's comments, which began more than an hour after initially scheduled and ran half the length of Zelensky's entreaty - eight minutes to Zelensky's 16 - underscored the fluid dynamic between the two leaders, with Biden (wearing a suit, subdued, age 79) finding himself, for one of the first times since Russia invaded Ukraine, clearly in response mode to Zelensky (clad in military green, resolute, age 44).

"The American people are answering President Zelensky's call for more help, more weapons for Ukraine to defend itself, more tools to fight Russian aggression," Biden said.

Biden announces new aid after Zelensky's emotional plea to Congress

His comments at times took on an almost defensive tone, as he noted that the United States had been equipping Ukraine since before the invasion, that American weapons have helped the Ukrainians inflict significant damage and that the $800 million in new aid he was announcing would include "cutting-edge systems" such as drones.

Starting with Russia's initial buildup on the Ukrainian border last fall, Biden and his team took the lead in trying to avert Russian aggression against its neighbor. The administration worked with NATO and other Western allies to deter Putin through diplomatic channels and the threat of sanctions. And Biden himself signed off on a new strategy to declassify intelligence, sharing it with the world in an attempt to thwart Putin's ability to use a false pretext to invade Ukraine.

The White House even launched a secretive "Tiger Team" to plan for how to handle a Russian invasion.

Indeed, if Russia's bellicosity offered any silver lining, it was that Putin helped catapult Biden back into a position in which he is most comfortable, serving as a transatlantic leader and declaring - both literally and symbolically - that America is back after four years of chaos and alliance-busting under Donald Trump.

But since the actual war between Russia and Ukraine began three weeks ago, Biden and his European counterparts have articulated no clear end game, and Wednesday's Biden-Zelensky juxtaposition offered something of a split screen, with the U.S. president and his team trying to explain why the administration was falling short on meeting Zelensky's stirring request.

The Ukrainian leader ended his speech by switching to English and calling out Biden directly: "You are the leader of the nation, of your great nation," Zelensky said. "I wish you to be the leader of the world. Being the leader of the world means to be the leader of peace."

In response, Biden found himself explaining at great length what he has already done to support Ukraine and announcing that he is authorizing an additional $800 million in security assistance, noting that it brought the total to $1 billion "just this week" and to $2 billion since the start of his administration.

"This new package on its own is going to provide unprecedented assistance to Ukraine," Biden said. "It includes 800 antiaircraft systems to make sure the Ukrainian military can continue to stop the planes and helicopters that have been attacking their people and to defend the Ukrainian airspace. And at the request of President Zelensky, we have identified and are helping Ukraine acquire additional longer-range antiaircraft systems and the munitions for those systems."

The White House reported that the $800 million in new assistance includes 800 Stinger antiaircraft systems; 2,000 Javelin, 1,000 light anti-armor weapons, and 6,000 AT-4 anti-armor systems; 100 Tactical Unmanned Aerial Systems; 100 grenade launchers, 5,000 rifles, 1,000 pistols, 400 machine guns and 400 shotguns; more than 20 million rounds of small-arms ammunition and grenade launcher and mortar rounds; 25,000 sets of body armor; and 25,000 helmets.

Speaking to reporters Wednesday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki was repeatedly pressed on why the administration has been willing to provide Ukraine lethal assistance, such as Javelin antitank missiles and Stinger surface-to-air missiles, while repeatedly refusing Zelensky's requests for Polish MiG fighter jets.

The administration has sought to draw a careful line between defensive and offensive weapons, arguing that the latter risked setting off a direct confrontation with Russia that could turn into a larger war.

"I would note that the equipment that we've provided is defensive, as you know, not offensive," Psaki said. "And we see that as being a difference."

And again, several minutes later, Psaki offered: "Javelins and Stingers are defensive weapons. MiGs or planes are offensive weapons, which are a different type of military system."

But Poland has offered to provide fighter planes to the United States for use in Ukraine, a notion that has some bipartisan support on Capitol Hill. Immediately after Zelensky's speech, several Republican lawmakers weighed in with calls for the Biden administration to send Zelensky the MiGs he wants.

"Zelensky has the courage of his convictions. The question he asked the Congress and the United States government is will we have the courage of ours," said Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.). "We're a superpower - we should act like it."

Asked about a no-fly zone, Sasse added: "We should have gotten them planes long ago."

And referring to a video Zelensky showed Congress that included footage of his country being decimated, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) offered a similar assessment.

"I don't know how anyone could listen to him and see the videos and not be in favor of sending the MiGs, sending drones, sending additional weaponry, ceasing doing business in Russia and implementing his call for broader sanctions," Collins said.

Analysis: Zelensky's use of jarring imagery

As for Biden's unexpected comment that Putin is a war criminal, Psaki depicted it as a heartfelt remark. "The president's remarks speak for themselves," she said. "He was speaking from his heart and speaking from what we've seen on television, which is barbaric actions by a brutal dictator through his invasion of a foreign country."

She reiterated Wednesday that the State Department is conducting a legal review to determine whether the actions in Ukraine are war crimes. "If Russia is intentionally targeting civilians, that would be a war crime," she said last week in disclosing the inquiry. "But we need to go through the legal assessment and review in order to make a formal conclusion."

Vice President Harris endorsed a war crimes inquiry last week, speaking during a visit to Poland, saying, "Absolutely there should be an investigation, and we should all be watching." And in The Hague, the prosecutor's office at the International Criminal Court recently announced that it was looking into the Ukraine situation.

But neither the international court nor the U.S. government has formally concluded that Russia's actions constitute war crimes, making Biden's seemingly spontaneous assertion Wednesday all the more striking.

Psaki emphasized that the administration has been in regular contact with the Ukrainians, saying that while Biden is not prepared to accede to every demand by Zelensky, nothing the Ukrainian leader requested came as a surprise.

"If we were President Zelensky, we would be asking for everything possible as well, and continuing to ask for it," Psaki said. "Because he is watching his country and his people be attacked and brutalized by President Putin and the Russian military," Psaki said.

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President Biden explicitly called Russian President Vladimir Putin a "war criminal" Wednesday, after weeks of avoiding the term and at a time when his administration is still determining whether that label officially applies. Biden made the dramatic accusation seemingly off the cuff, in response to a reporter's shouted question at an afternoon event on an entirely different topic.

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The History behind Russia's Invasion of Ukraine

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The History behind Russia's Invasion of Ukraine

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The 20th-Century History Behind Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine

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During WWII, Ukrainian nationalists saw the Nazis as liberators from Soviet oppression. Now, Russia is using that chapter to paint Ukraine as a Nazi nation