Russia launched a drone attack on the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant overnight significantly damaging a radiation shelter, Ukraine has claimed, sparking fears of a deadly leak.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said on X that a Russian attack drone ‘with a high-explosive warhead struck the shelter protecting the world from radiation at the destroyed 4th power unit of the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant.’
He said the shelter was damaged but that the fire has since been extinguished. The cover is used to prevent radiation after the 1986 nuclear disaster which sent pollution across Europe.
Radiation levels around the plant have not increased this morning, he added, with international observers continuing to monitor the plant.
‘The only country in the world that attacks such sites, occupies nuclear power plants, and wages war without any regard for the consequences is today’s Russia. This is a terrorist threat to the entire world,’ Zelensky said.
His warning came after Donald Trump announced that representatives from Ukraine and Russia would meet along with US officials at a security conference in Munich today.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed that an explosion has been heard overnight from the new safe confinement, which protects the remains of reactor 4 of the former nuclear power plant, starting a fire.
The agency said that fire safety personnel and vehicles responded within minutes and no casualties were reported.
‘Radiation levels inside and outside remain normal and stable. IAEA continues monitoring the situation,’ the agency added.
A Russian attack drone with a high-explosive warhead struck the shelter protecting the world from radiation at the destroyed 4th power unit of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant
Pictures appear to show damage on the shelter of the destroyed power unit at the plant
Videos shared by Ukraine appear to show an explosion at the plant
A Russian attack drone with a high-explosive warhead struck the shelter protecting the world from radiation at the destroyed 4th power unit of the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant
Russia occupied the site of Chernobyl earlier in the war before retreating.
Moscow has frequently accused Ukraine of seeking to attack nuclear power plants with drones, which Kyiv has resolutely denied.
There was no immediate proof of the type of drone which allegedly hit the covering, and Moscow has not immediately responded to Ukraine’s allegations.
Meanwhile the Kremlin this morning accused Ukraine of carrying out an artillery attack on a thermal power plant it controls in southern Ukraine, which is located near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station.
Russian-installed local officials said the attack on the power plant in the city of Enerhodar had occurred late on February 13 and had left more than 50,000 people without electricity.
Urgent work was under way to try to restore electricity supplies.
Russian news agencies cited a nuclear plant official as saying that the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant itself had not been damaged in the attack and was operating as usual.
IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said the incident at Chernobyl and recent increase in military activity around Zaporizhzhia highlight ongoing nuclear safety risks.
‘There is no room for complacency, and the IAEA remains on high alert,’ he said.
Zelensky is expected to warn the US not to trust Russian President Vladimir Putin when he meets with American Vice President JD Vance in Munich today.
Pictures shared by Ukraine appear to show damage and debris at the Chernobyl site
The conference starts days after Trump and Putin held watershed talks that have shaken Ukraine and America’s NATO allies, almost three years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion.
Trump said he had agreed with Putin to soon start Ukraine peace talks and exchange friendly visits – a sea change after years in which the Russian president was internationally isolated.
WHAT HAPPENED DURING THE 1986 CHERNOBYL NUCLEAR DISASTER?
On April 26, 1986 a power station on the outskirts of Pripyat suffered a massive accident in which one of the reactors caught fire and exploded, spreading radioactive material into the surroundings.
More than 160,000 residents of the town and surrounding areas had to be evacuated and have been unable to return, leaving the former Soviet site as a radioactive ghost town.
A map of the Chernobyl exclusion zone is pictured above. The ‘ghost town’ of Pripyat sits nearby the site of the disaster
The exclusion zone, which covers a substantial area in Ukraine and some of bordering Belarus, will remain in effect for generations to come, until radiation levels fall to safe enough levels.
The region is called a ‘dead zone’ due to the extensive radiation which persists.
However, the proliferation of wildlife in the area contradicts this and many argue that the region should be given over to the animals which have become established in the area – creating a radioactive protected wildlife reserve.