The Latest Breaking News from Zaporizhzhia

Russia launched a wave of attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure in the cities of Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia on Friday morning as Ukrainian officials said a long-awaited Russian offensive was under way in the east.

Russia unleashed a new wave of missile strikes on energy infrastructure across Ukraine on Friday, causing emergency power outages for millions of people and prompting new calls by Kyiv for Western arms.

The attacks hit critical infrastructure in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, and energy infrastructure in Zaporizhzhia

Russian forces struck critical infrastructure in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, and launched multiple strikes on energy infrastructure in Zaporizhzhia early Friday as Moscow stepped up its attacks in Ukraine’s south and east and air raid sirens went off across much of Ukraine

Russia and the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog on Thursday said they hoped to make progress on creating a safety zone around Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which has come under repeated shelling over the past months.

Ukrainian president earlier urged parliament ‘give us wings’ to protect freedom

Ukraine's national security chief said on Tuesday Kyiv expects Russia to include the northeastern Kharkiv or southern Zaporizhzhia regions as targets of an anticipated offensive aimed at reclaiming the initiative in its year-old invasion.

The construction of protective structures for key facilities at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in southeast Ukraine is nearing completion, Russia's state TASS news agency reported on Tuesday, citing an adviser to the head of Russia's nuclear plants operator.

Konstantin Yefremov escaped Russia after serving three months as a lieutenant in Zaporizhzhia oblast

Negotiations on creating a safety zone around Ukraine's Russia-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant are tough, and Kyiv appears to be just stalling for time, RIA Novosti cited Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying on Monday.

The move is part of the "step-by-step synchronisation" of Russia's controlled Ukrainian territories, annexed amid global condemnation in October.