A drone armed with an eyelet hit the exterior protective shell of the Chornobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine on early Friday, damaging the structure and starting a fire, in an attack that kyiv blamed Russia.
The protective shield around the fourth reactor suffered a large hole in the blow. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the situation is being monitored to evaluate any potential risk.
“Last night, a Russian attack drone with a high explosive head hit the shelter protecting the world of radiation in the 4th unit of destroyed energy of the Chornobyl nuclear power plant.” Zelenskyy said Friday.
“This shelter was built by Ukraine together with other countries in Europe and the world, together with the United States, all those committed to true security for humanity. The only country in the world that attacks such sites, occupies nuclear plants and the war releases without taking into account the consequences is today's Russia.
“This is a terrorist attack for everyone.”
Zelenskyy shared images of the security chamber of the moment when a bright flash illuminated the dark sky in the energy plant before a large fireball rose from the roof of the structure. The aerial images showed flames shooting from the hole created by the drone.
A screen capture of a video shared by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shows the damage after a Russian drone hit the protective shelter of the fourth unit of energy destroyed at the Chornobyl nuclear energy plant, in Chernobyl, Ukraine, 14 February 2025.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Social Media / Follet / Anadolu through Getty Images
“The Chornobyl NPP shelter was damaged by this drone. The fire has extinguished. From now on, radiation levels have not increased and are being constantly monitored. According to the initial evaluations, the damage to the shelter is significant, ”Zelenskyy continued.
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Zelenskyy said that Russia “carries out such attacks against infrastructure and the cities of Ukraine” every night.
“Russia continues to expand its army and shows no change in its distressed anti-human rhetoric. This means that Putin is definitely not being prepared for negotiations: he is preparing to continue deceiving the world. That is why there must be unified pressure of all those who value life: pressure on the aggressor. Russia must be responsible for their actions, ”he concluded.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied Russia to be responsible.
“There is no talk of strikes about nuclear infrastructure, nuclear energy facilities. Any statement of this type is not true, our army does not do that, “Peskov said at a telephone conference with journalists.
Radiation levels in the closed plant in the kyiv region, the site of the world's worst nuclear accident, have not increased, According to the UN International Atomic Energy Agency (OIEA), who said the strike did not violate the internal shell of the plant.
The OIEA did not attribute the fault, saying only that his team parked on the site heard an explosion and was informed that a drone had hit the shell, which was originally built to contain the remains of the Chornobyl disaster and designed to avoid radiation leaks and safeguard the site.
“Fire security personnel and vehicles responded in minutes. At this time, there are no indications of a violation in the internal containment of the NSC. Radiation levels inside and outside remain normal and stable. No victims were reported. The OIEA continues to monitor the situation “, the Oiea added.
Ukraine plans to provide detailed information to US officials about the Chornobyl strike during the Munich Security Conference starting Friday, wrote the head of the Presidential Office of Ukraine, Andrii Yermak, on his telegram channel.
The strike occurred two days after the president of the United States, Donald Trump, turns the American politics in Ukraine, saying that he would meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the end of the war. The movement seemed to identify Putin as the only player who matters and seemed ready to put aside Zelenskyy, as well as European governments, in any peace conversation.
The fight against nuclear energy plants has repeatedly increased the fears of a nuclear catastrophe for three years of war, particularly in a country where many vividly remember to live through the 1986 Chornobyl disaster, which killed at least 30 people and threw radioactive consequences on much of the northern hemisphere. .
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear energy plant, which is the largest in Europe, has occasionally been hit by drones during the war without causing significant damage.
–With Associated Press files
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