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.
Here's how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Aug 18, 2022, 12:07 PM EDT
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.
In this handout photo taken from video and released by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Aug. 7, 2022, a general view of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station in territory under Russian military control, southeastern Ukraine.
Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP, FILE
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.
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.
A firefighter stands in front of a destroyed hostel, after a missile strike hit the city Kharkiv, Ukraine, Aug. 17, 2022.
Sergey Bobok/AFP via Getty Images
"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."
Rescue workers inspect the site of a destroyed hostel, after a missile strike hit the city Kharkiv, Ukraine, Aug. 17, 2022.
Sergey Bobok/AFP via Getty Images
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."
A bloodied bathroom is pictured in a building destroyed during a missile strike in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Aug. 18, 2022.
Andrii Marienko/AP
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."
Large apartment block struck in Kharkiv, at least 7 dead
At least seven people are dead and another 13 injured by strikes on a large apartment block in Kharkiv, officials said.
Rescue workers and firefighters work at the site of a destroyed hostel, after a missile strike hit the city Kharkiv, Ukraine, Aug. 17, 2022.
Sergey Bobok/AFP via Getty Images
Based on recovered shrapnel, authorities determined an Iskander-M missile system was used in the strike, said Ivan Sokol, Ukraine's director of the regional Department of Civil Defense.
Ukrainian women hug in front of a building destroyed during a missile strike in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Aug. 18, 2022.
Andrii Marienko/AP
>Search and rescue efforts are ongoing at the three-story residential building, the State Emergency Service of Ukraine said.
-ABC News' Tatiana Rymarenko
Aug 15, 2022, 4:47 PM EDT
Shelling resumes near power plant, both sides claim the other is firing
More shelling was underway Monday in city of Enerhodar, which is under Russian control and where the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant is located.
Residents, many of whom fled the war, bring items such as medicine, clothes and other personal care items, to be transported by volunteers to their relatives in areas controlled by Russia, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Aug. 14, 2022.
Andriy Andriyenko/AP
Enerhodar Mayor Dmytro Orlov urged residents to stay inside. He said Russian forces seized another government facility in Enerhodar, a lab where 30 of the employees are refusing to cooperate with the Russian-appointed administration.
Meanwhile, Russia's semi-official Interfax reported that Ukrainian forces opened fire in Enerhodar.
Ukraine's state nuclear regulator Energoatom said the plant remained occupied and controlled by Russian forces on Monday. The Ukrainian staff continues to work and make every effort to ensure nuclear and radiation safety, but Energoatom warned that periodic shelling by Russian troops with multiple rocket launchers since last week caused a serious risk to the safe operation of the plant.
In his daily address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian troops must immediately withdraw from the plant. If a catastrophe occurs, Zelenskyy warned it could affect neighboring countries.
