Russia-Ukraine updates: Russian missiles hit close to nuclear reactors: IAEA director

The U.S. has authorized a new $775 million military aid package for Ukraine, the Department of Defense announced on Friday.

The package will include more High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) ammunition and howitzers, as well as some firsts, including ScanEagle reconnaissance drones and Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles.

The 15 ScanEagle drones are intended to help Ukraine identify targets and put the HIMARS and howitzers to better use, according to a senior U.S. defense official.

The 40 MRAP vehicles and other mine-clearing equipment will help Ukrainian troops cross dangerous terrain, according to the official.

"We know that Russia has heavily mined areas in parts of southern and eastern Ukraine. We know there's a significant amount of unexploded ordinance," the official said.

The new aid package follows a $1 billion package announced on Aug. 8.

-ABC News' Matthew Seyler

A major pipeline that supplies natural gas from Russia to Europe will be shut down for three days for maintenance, Russian energy corporation Gazprom said Friday.

Gas supplies via the Nord Stream pipeline will be suspended from Aug. 31 to Sept. 2 for "servicing and preventive maintenance" of its only operative gas compressor unit, Gazprom said.

Gas transmission is scheduled to resume after that period, barring any malfunctions, at a below-capacity rate of 33 million cubic meters per day, the company said.

The flow of gas via the pipeline has been reduced, and both Nord Stream pipelines were shut down for 10 days last month for maintenance, as Europe faces an energy crisis.

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.

-ABC News' Britt Clennett

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.

-ABC News' Christine Theodorou