Ukraine Says Retired Chernobyl Nuclear Power Attacked By Russian Drones

A Russian Shahed drone struck a facility used for storing spent nuclear fuel near the decommissioned Chernobyl nuclear power plant early on Sunday, causing significant damage to a building at the site, Ukrainian authorities said.

The strike targeted the reception building of the spent fuel storage facility, located about nine miles from the site of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Officials said no nuclear fuel containers were inside the damaged structure at the time of the attack.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the strike, describing it as a deliberate attack on critical infrastructure.

“As of now, there is no heightening of radiation safety limits. But there is clearly an heightening of Russia’s already sky-high arrogance,” Zelenskyy said.

“It was [a] critical infrastructure facility. And an extremely vile Russian attack.”

The attack occurred at around 2 a.m. local time. A fire covering approximately 40 square metres broke out following the strike but was later extinguished. No injuries were reported.

Ukraine's state nuclear operator, Energoatom, said radiation levels at the site remained within normal limits. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) also reported that, despite the damage, radiation readings had not exceeded established safety thresholds. The agency said its experts were preparing to visit the facility.

The centralised spent nuclear fuel storage facility is designed to provide long-term storage for spent fuel from Ukraine's nuclear power plants.

The incident came amid an escalation in long-range aerial attacks by both Russia and Ukraine. Zelenskyy's remarks were made as he prepared to travel to London for talks with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on continued support for Ukraine.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha accused Moscow of repeatedly endangering nuclear facilities.

“This is not the first time Russian forces are putting Ukrainian nuclear facilities at risk,” Sybiha wrote on X.

“Russia’s nuclear blackmail and threats to nuclear safety are systemic, deliberate, and unacceptable.”

Russia has not publicly commented on the reported strike.

The attack followed a Ukrainian long-range strike on the Russian naval town of Kronstadt near St Petersburg a day earlier. Meanwhile, Russia's defence ministry said its air defence systems had intercepted 500 Ukrainian drones over the previous 24 hours.

The latest incident also comes months after a Russian drone strike in February 2025 damaged the protective containment arch covering the reactor destroyed in the Chernobyl disaster. Moscow denied responsibility for that attack.

“The strike on a nuclear infrastructure facility has once again shown the world the true face of the Kremlin regime, which deliberately poses threats to nuclear and radiation safety,” Energoatom said.

Both Kyiv and Moscow have also repeatedly accused each other of carrying out attacks near the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine, Europe's largest nuclear facility.

(Guardian reported)