Russian drone strike damages Chernobyl nuclear plant cover, says Ukraine

Ukraine has accused Russia of launching a drone attack on the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, damaging the protective cover of the facility’s fourth power unit. However, authorities say radiation levels remain stable.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the strike took place overnight and targeted the sarcophagus covering reactor number four, which was destroyed in the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. He described the attack as a “terrorist threat to the whole world.”

“After the Chernobyl disaster, Ukraine, together with European countries, the United States, and other nations that value human safety, built this protective cover. The only country in the world capable of attacking such a facility is Russia,” Zelenskyy said in a video statement shared on social media.

The President also released footage that he claimed showed the Russian drone strike and the resulting damage. According to preliminary assessments, the cover of the reactor has been significantly affected.

Ukraine’s Emergency Situations Service has reassured the public that radiation levels at the site remain within normal limits and that monitoring is ongoing.

There has been no immediate response from Moscow regarding the allegations. Russian forces initially took control of the Chernobyl site on the first day of their full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022 but withdrew by the end of March that year.