Ukraine war live updates: Putin delivers State of the Nation address to Russian lawmakers, troops and journalists

This is CNBC's live blog tracking developments on the war in Ukraine. See below for the latest updates. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin has started his State of the Nation address to Russia's houses of parliament, the Federal Assembly, on Thursday.

The speech is being delivered to around 1,000 lawmakers and officials, faith leaders, diplomats and journalists. As was the case last year, participants in Russia's "special military operation" (code for war) in Ukraine have also been invited to the event — Putin's 19th address of its kind.

Read more here: ‘We shall overcome everything together’: Putin tells his people that the West is trying to defeat Russia

The topics of the address are not usually revealed ahead of the speech, but Putin said last week that the upcoming message takes into account "the internal political calendar" and will set Russia's goals for the next six years. His speech comes less than a month before the presidential election on March 15-17 that Putin is expected to win given the lack of non-systemic opposition figures in Russia.

There's speculation that Putin could use his State of the Nation address on Thursday to make some announcement about Transnistria, potentially even bolstering Russia's small military presence in the separatist region.

On Thursday, the pro-Russian, breakaway region of Transnistria in Moldova asked Russia to "protect" it against an alleged threat from Moldova's authorities. Russia's Foreign Ministry responded by saying protecting that the interests of the residents of Transnistria — calling them "compatriots" — was a priority for Russia, the ministry told RIA Novosti.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's State of Nation address Thursday has covered a variety of topics so far,