俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京对邻国乌克兰的“特殊军事行动”始于2月24日，俄罗斯军队从北部的白俄罗斯和东部的俄罗斯入侵。据美国官员称，乌克兰军队进行了“顽强抵抗”。
此后，俄罗斯军队在乌克兰东部有争议的顿巴斯地区发动了全面地面进攻，占领了战略港口城市马里乌波尔，并确保了通往莫斯科吞并的克里米亚半岛的沿海走廊。
据报道，俄罗斯告诉Zaporizhzhia工厂工人周五不要上班
据乌克兰官员称，据报道，俄罗斯已经告诉Zaporizhzhia核电站的一些工人周五不要上班。
在一个官方电报频道中，乌克兰军事情报机构的主要负责人周四表示，“占领者宣布8月19日意外放假一天。核电站只有操作人员。所有其他员工将被拒绝进入。”
该官员补充说，俄罗斯核机构Rosatom的代表也“暂时离开了该工厂的领土。”
与此同时，乌克兰和俄罗斯都警告称，该核电站计划于周五进行挑衅。
泽伦斯基呼吁联合国确保Zaporizhzhya工厂的非军事化
根据乌克兰总统办公室的一份声明，乌克兰总统弗拉基米尔·泽伦斯基(Volodymyr Zelenskyy)周四在利沃夫与联合国秘书长安东尼奥·古特雷斯(Vladimir Putin)会晤时，呼吁联合国确保Zaporizhzhya核电站的非军事化和从俄罗斯军队中“完全解放”。
泽伦斯基的办公室说，两人就联合国核监督机构国际原子能机构可能访问该工厂的“参数”达成了一致。
evgeniy Maloletka/美联社
乌克兰总统沃洛季米尔·泽伦斯基、土耳其总统雷杰普·塔伊普·埃尔多安以及.
俄罗斯声称，这座欧洲最大的核电站周围的非军事区将使其更加脆弱。
在利沃夫的会议上，泽伦斯基还呼吁联合国派遣一个调查团前往奥列尼夫卡，那里有数十名乌克兰战俘在上个月底的一次爆炸中丧生。
俄罗斯拒绝在扎波罗热核电站周围建立非军事区
俄罗斯外交部信息和新闻司副司长伊万·内恰耶夫(Ivan Nechayev)表示，国际社会呼吁俄罗斯在乌克兰东南部的扎波雷日恰核电站周围建立非军事区的提议是“不可接受的”。
“他们的实施将使工厂更加脆弱，”内恰耶夫在周四的新闻发布会上说。
据内恰耶夫称，莫斯科期待着联合国核监督机构国际原子能机构的专家“在不久的将来”参观扎波日希亚核电站。
联合国秘书长和国际原子能机构呼吁在俄罗斯占领的Zaporizhzhia核电站周围建立非军事区，该核电站是欧洲最大的核电站。
2月24日入侵邻国乌克兰后不久，俄罗斯军队突袭了位于该国东南部第聂伯河河岸、靠近Enerhodar镇的Zaporizhzhia工厂。乌克兰工人被留在原地，以保持工厂的运转，因为它为这个饱受战争蹂躏的国家提供电力。然而，现场周围的激烈战斗加剧了对灾难的恐惧就像36年前发生在乌克兰北部的切尔诺贝利核电站一样。
哈尔科夫，消防员描述致命袭击后的破坏
一名乌克兰消防员回应了俄罗斯导弹袭击了哈尔科夫告诉ABC新闻，爆炸的规模是他见过的“最大的”之一。
据乌克兰当局称，周三晚上，其中一枚火箭弹击中了一个大型公寓楼，造成至少9人死亡，另有16人受伤。
消防员罗曼·加查诺夫在周四接受美国广播公司采访时说:“它穿过了四层楼，撞到了地面，几乎炸毁了一切。”。"周围所有的建筑都没有窗户。"
“有一个宿舍，建筑几乎完全被毁，”他补充说。"有一个操场被撞得粉碎，就像一个巨人把它炸掉了一样。"
卡查诺夫是在闷烧的废墟中搜寻幸存者的救援人员之一。
“我看到地板上有三具尸体被东西盖住了，”他说。“我们试图提取它们，当我们尝试时，另一面墙开始倒塌，我们必须尽快逃离。”
卡查诺夫说，周四黎明前，另一枚导弹击中了这座城市，距离他和他的团队工作的地方不远。他说爆炸“非常大”，而且“听起来很近”
“每个人都必须躺下，”他回忆道。"队员们不得不分头行动——消防车不得不离开去扑救另一场火灾."
Russia-Ukraine live updates: Moscow refuses to create demilitarized zone around plant
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.
Russia reportedly tells Zaporizhzhia plant workers not to go to work Friday
Russia has reportedly told some workers at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant not to go to work on Friday, according to Ukrainian officials.
In an official Telegram channel, the main director of Ukraine's military intelligence said Thursday, "Occupiers announced an unexpected day off on August 19. At the nuclear plant there will only be operational staff. All other employees will be denied entry."
The official added that representatives of the Russian nuclear agency Rosatom also have "temporarily left the territory of the plant."
This comes as both Ukraine and Russia have warned of a provocation being planned at the plant Friday.
Zelenskyy calls on UN to ensure demilitarization of Zaporizhzhya plant
During a meeting in Lviv on Thursday with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on the U.N. to ensure the demilitarization and "complete liberation" of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant from Russian forces, according to a statement from his office.
The two "agreed upon the parameters" of a possible visit to the plant by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog, Zelenskyy's office said.
Russia has claimed a demilitarized zone around the plant, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, would make it more vulnerable.
During their meeting in Lviv, Zelenskyy also called for a U.N. fact-finding mission to head to Olenivka, where dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war were killed in an explosion late last month.
Russia refuses to create demilitarized zone around Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant
The international calls and proposals for Russia to create a demilitarized zone around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine are "unacceptable," according to Ivan Nechayev, deputy director of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Information and Press Department.
"Their implementation will make the plant even more vulnerable," Nechayev said at a press briefing on Thursday.
Moscow is expecting experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency, the nuclear watchdog of the United Nations, to visit the Zaporizhzhia plant "in the near future," according to Nechayev.
The secretary-generals of the U.N. and the IAEA have called for the establishment of a demilitarized zone around the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia plant, which is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe.
Shortly after invading neighboring Ukraine on Feb. 24, Russian troops stormed the Zaporizhzhia plant, near the town of Enerhodar, on the banks of the Dnipro River in the country's southeast. The Ukrainian workers have been left in place to keep the plant operating, as it supplies electricity across the war-torn nation. However, heavy fighting around the site hasfueled fears of a catastrophe, like what happened at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in northern Ukraine over 36 years ago.
undefinedMORE: Worker at Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant warns of potential catastrophe
Firefighter describes destruction after deadly strikes in Kharkiv
A Ukrainian firefighter who responded to theRussian missile attacks in Kharkiv overnighttold ABC News that the scale of the blasts was "one of the biggest" he's ever seen.
One of the rockets struck a large apartment block on Wednesday night, killing at least nine people and injuring another 16, according to Ukrainian authorities.
"It went through all four floors and hit the ground and almost blew up everything," the firefighter, Roman Kachanov, told ABC News during an interview on Thursday. "All the buildings around were without windows."
"There was a dormitory, and the building was almost completely ruined," he added. "There was a playground that was smashed like a big titan blew it up."
Kachanov is among the rescue workers searching for survivors amid the smoldering rubble.
"I’ve seen three bodies on the floor covered by objects," he said. "We tried to extract them and while we tried, the other wall started to fall and we had to run away as fast as we can."
Kachanov said another missile hit the city before dawn Thursday, not far from where he and his team were working. He said the blast "was very loud" and "sounded close."
"Everyone had to lay down," he recalled. "The team had to split -- fire truck had to leave to go to that other fire."
