Russian drone strike damages site near Chornobyl nuclear plant

A Russian drone strike on Sunday significantly damaged a storage facility for spent nuclear fuel located near Ukraine's Chornobyl power plant, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The facility is situated meters away from where large amounts of nuclear material are stored.

Zelenskyy denounced the attack as "extremely vile," accusing Russia of deploying a Shahed drone. Despite the damage, he reported that current radiation levels remain within normal background limits. However, he noted a significant increase in Russia's "brazenness," which he felt had "long ago gone off the charts."

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed it had been briefed by Ukraine and stated that a team would soon visit the site to inspect the impact. Ukraine's state atomic agency, Energoatom, asserted that no spent fuel was stored in the damaged building at the time of the attack. The resulting fire was extinguished, and no injuries were reported.

This incident is part of a broader pattern of Russian attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure. Since its full-scale invasion in 2022, Russia has frequently targeted Ukrainian cities and infrastructure with drones and missiles. In February 2025, a Russian drone allegedly damaged a containment arch over the Chornobyl reactor that suffered a catastrophic explosion and meltdown in April 1986.

Elsewhere in Ukraine on Sunday, Russian drone strikes reportedly killed at least two people in the southern Zaporizhzhia region and the central Dnipropetrovsk region. Ukraine's air force claimed to have intercepted 215 out of 236 drones launched by Russia overnight. The attacks occurred as President Zelenskyy was set to meet with leaders from France, Germany, and the UK in London to discuss continued support for Ukraine.

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As of now, there are no readings exceeding normal background radiation levels. But there is certainly an increase in Russia’s brazenness, which long ago went off the charts.