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The world stands at the doorstep of what could be the most significant conflict in Europe since World War II after Russia launched an attack on Ukraine. Yahoo News explains who is involved and what you need to know as the fighting begins.

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According to Ukrainian authorities, Russian forces have moved into the area surrounding the Chernobyl nuclear reactor in northern Ukraine, where the world's worst nuclear disaster took place in 1986 and where vast reserves of dangerous nuclear waste remain entombed.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday that the defenders are giving their lives so that the 1986 tragedy won't happen again. He described the move as a declaration of war against Europe.

A radioactive cloud covered much of the continent when the reactor melted down. Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union.

The Chernobyl nuclear power plant a few weeks after the disaster in May 1986.
The Chernobyl nuclear power plant a few weeks after the disaster in May 1986. (Igor Kostin/Laski Diffusion/Getty Images)

The Exclusion Zone surrounds the reactor. It includes ongoing safety operations, forests that have grown lush again, a few small settlements where villagers have refused to live, and the town of Pripyat, abandoned by the plant's employees and their families in the days after the explosion.

There are reports that Russian forces have entered the area around Chernobyl. It is not clear how close fighting has been to the reactor itself, part of a larger nuclear plant that is in the process of being decommissioned.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has launched an all-out assault on his smaller and less powerful neighbor. The seat of power in the capital of Kyiv is believed to have ultimate designs on him.

The Soviet Union encased the reactor in a concrete sarcophagus and covered it with a more modern protective dome in order to protect it from being attacked. Europe funded the construction of the shelter.

People look at the Object Shelter, also known as the sarcophagus, a temporary structure built in 1986 over the debris at Chernobyl.
People look at the Object Shelter, also known as the sarcophagus, a temporary structure built in 1986 over the debris at Chernobyl. (Volodymyr Tarasov/ Ukrinform/Barcroft Media via Getty Images)

A top Ukrainian official told the New York Times that Ukrainian military troops were putting up fierce resistance, but worried that continued fighting could cause radioactive dust to cover the territory of Ukraine.

Chernobyl is symbolic to Russians and Ukrainians alike. The land surrounding Chernobyl is likely to remain uninhabitable for the next 20,000 years because of how long radioactive materials last.

The collapse of the Soviet Union is seen as a result of the combination of incompetence and cruelty that led to the disaster.

Where are Russian forces surrounding Ukraine? Check out this explainer from Yahoo Immersive to find out.

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