Схему расположения обновили сегодня.

Because схему is the accusative singular form of схема.

Here, схему расположения is the direct object of обновили (updated), so Russian uses the accusative case.

• nominative: схема
• accusative: схему

For feminine nouns ending in -а, the accusative singular usually changes to -у.

Расположения is the genitive singular form of расположение.

In Russian, one noun often modifies another by using the genitive case, where English might use of or an adjective. So:

• схема расположения = literally scheme/diagram of placement/location
• more naturally: layout diagram, location plan, placement scheme, depending on context

So расположения is not the main noun here; it depends on схема.

Russian often leaves out the subject when it is unknown, obvious, or unimportant.

So Схему расположения обновили сегодня literally feels like:

• They updated the layout today

But in English, this is often better translated as:

• The layout was updated today

This is a very common Russian pattern called an indefinite-personal construction: the action happened, but the speaker does not say exactly who did it.

Because обновили does not agree with схему.

The noun схему is the object, not the subject. The verb is in the plural past because the sentence implies an unstated they:

• (Они) обновили = (They) updated

So the verb is plural because of the hidden doer, not because there are multiple schemes.

Обновили is perfective, which means the action is seen as completed and having a result.

So this sentence presents the update as a finished fact:

• обновили = updated / have updated

If you used обновляли, that would be imperfective, which usually suggests process, repetition, or background information:

• обновляли = were updating / used to update / updated repeatedly

Here, since the point is that the scheme is now updated, обновили is the natural choice.

Grammatically, it is active, because the verb is an ordinary active verb: обновили.

But in meaning, it often corresponds to an English passive:

• Схему расположения обновили сегодня.
• The layout was updated today.

Russian very often uses this active-looking structure instead of a true passive when the doer is not important.

A more explicit passive version would be:

• Схема расположения была обновлена сегодня.
• or simply Схема расположения обновлена сегодня.

Those versions sound more formal or official.

Yes, the word order can change.

Russian word order is much freer than English word order because case endings show grammatical roles. The sentence:

• Схему расположения обновили сегодня.

is natural and can sound as if today is the important new information.

Other possible orders include:

• Сегодня обновили схему расположения.
• Схему расположения сегодня обновили.

These all mean roughly the same thing, but the focus changes slightly.

Very roughly:

• Сегодня first = stronger emphasis on today
• схему расположения first = stronger topic on the scheme/layout
• сегодня last = often makes today the final point of information

It depends on context.

Literally, it is something like:

• scheme/diagram of arrangement
• layout plan
• location diagram
• placement chart

The noun расположение can mean location, position, arrangement, or layout, depending on what is being discussed.

So if this is about furniture, booths, equipment, seats, or buildings, схема расположения is likely a diagram showing where things are placed.

Here, сегодня is an adverb of time meaning today.

It is not a noun in a case here. It simply tells you when the action happened:

• обновили сегодня = updated today

For learners, this is useful because not every time expression in Russian is a case form; some are just adverbs like сегодня, вчера, завтра.

Yes. That is the most literal natural English rendering.

But depending on context, English often prefers the passive:

• They updated the layout today — closer to the Russian grammar
• The layout was updated today — often closer to how English would naturally phrase it if the doer is unknown or irrelevant

So both are possible, but the second is often the better translation in context.

A careful pronunciation would be roughly:

• СХЕ-му располо-ЖЕ-ни-я обновИли сегоДНЯ

A few helpful stress points:

• схЕму
• расположЕния
• обновИли
• сегоднЯ

The unstressed о sounds are reduced in normal speech, so they may not sound like a clear o to your ear. That is very normal in Russian pronunciation.