Home rental company Airbnb Inc has decided to suspend all its operations in Russia and Belarus, its ally in invading Ukraine, company’s CEO Brian Chesky said on Twitter.

His profile name carried the icon of Ukraine’s flag, which has been a key way on social media platforms to show solidarity with the European country.

The fire at Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has been put out, officials from Ukraine’s state emergency service said.

Seeking more military aircrafts to defend Ukraine from Russian invasion, Ukraine’s foreign minister made an emotional plea in the early hour of Friday.

“Our aces heroically defend our skies. But Russia has advantage. Dear partners who still have not provided Ukraine with military aircraft: how can you sleep when Ukrainian children are under bombs in Mariupol, Kherson, Kharkiv, other cities?” the minister wrote on Twitter.

“You can take this decision now. Do it!”

Russia has battered Ukraine with a ground and air offensive that has killed thousands and driven more than 1 million people from their homes.

My colleague Liam James has the full report here:

Boris Johnson spoke with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky shortly after a nucealr facility in Ukraine came under attack.

“I’ve just spoken to President @ZelenskyyUa about the gravely concerning situation at Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station. Russia must immediately cease its attack on the power station and allow unfettered access for emergency services to the plant,” the British PM wrote on Twitter.

The Russian military is “intentionally trying to eliminate Ukrainian people” as it continues to attack civilian spaces with missile strikes and heavy gunfire, mayor of Kharkiv town said.

“The situation is extremely difficult,” Mayor Ihor Terekhov said, reported CNN.

“To date, Kharkiv has been hard impacted by continuous bombardment. Planes are flying constantly, (rockets) are being launched, grenades are launched, and residential houses are being hit,” the mayor said.

“A great number” have been killed, the mayor said adding that many are severely injured and hospitalised.

At least 34 civilians have been killed in Kharkiv in just 24 hours, the state emergency services in Ukraine said, adding that another 285 were injured.

The US energy secretary Jennifer Granholm said that the reactors at the nuclear plant are being shut down safely, just hours after the facility’s perimeter saw a heavy fighting between Russian troops and local forces.

The Russian army was “firing from all sides” on the plant, the Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba said.

“Fire has already broke out … Russians must IMMEDIATELY cease the fire, allow firefighters, establish a security zone!” he wrote on Twitter.

The international energy agency IAEA said it is deploying its Incident and Emergency Centre in full 24/7 response mode due to a serious situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant facility in Ukraine.

The IAEA had confirmed that the Ukraine regulator had not detected a change in radiation levels at the nuclear plant site after visuals showed massive fire after Russian shelling around the facility.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said Europe needs to “wake up right now” in a video message, moments after the continent’s biggest nuclear facility came under attack from Russian troops.

“Europe needs to wake up. The biggest nuclear power plant in Europe in on fire right now. Russian tanks are shooting at the nuclear blocks. These are tanks equipped with thermal imagers so they know what they are shooting at. They have prepared for it,” Mr Zelensky said.

He added: “I am addressing all Ukrainians, all Europeans and everyone who knows the word Chernobyl, who knows many casualties were inflicted by the explosion on the nuclear plant.”

It was a global catastrophe and its consequences were battled by hundreds of thousands of people, Mr Zelensky said in the video message.

Officials from the International Atomic Energy Agency have said that the ‘essential’ equipment at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine is not affected amid firing from Russia on Friday.

Read the full story here:

“President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. spoke with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine this evening to receive an update on the fire at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant,” the readout stated.

“President Biden joined President Zelensky in urging Russia to cease its military activities in the area and allow firefighters and emergency responders to access the site.”

The White House also said that Mr Biden had spoken with Under Secretary for Nuclear Security of the US Department of Energy and Administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) to receive an update on the situation at the plant.

“The President will continue to be briefed regularly,” they stated.