Key Takeaways
- A Russian drone attack hit the Chernobyl nuclear plant, sparking concerns about Ukraine’s nuclear safety.
- No casualties were reported in the attack, but radiation levels remain a concern.
- The Munich Security Conference is scheduled to take place just hours after the attack, where leaders will discuss the conflict in Ukraine.
Moscow: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that a Russian drone struck the former nuclear power plant at Chernobyl in an attack overnight into Friday, media reports said on Saturday.
A strike hit a concrete shelter covering the plant’s destroyed fourth power unit, igniting a fire that was later extinguished, he said. Chernobyl was the site of the 1986 disaster that spread radioactivity across parts of the Soviet Union and Europe, the CNN reported.
According to the media reports, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN’s nuclear watchdog, said that its team at the site heard a large explosion shortly before 2 a.m. local time Friday (7 p.m. ET Thursday).
The IAEA said its team responded to the explosion within minutes and that no casualties were reported.
Ukraine’s military reported that Russia launched 133 drones across the country in its overnight attack, 73 of which were shot down and 58 of which did not reach their target. The numbers are broadly in line with the recent average of drone attacks, the report said.
The military said drones were shot down in 11 regions, covering much of the country.
The attack occurred just hours before the Munich Security Conference, where Volodymyr Zelenskiy was set to meet with other leaders, the report said.
Zelensky and Ukraine’s State Emergency Service maintain that radiation levels in the area remain within normal limits, despite significant damage to the shelter.
Chernobyl’s chief engineer, Oleksandr Tytarchuk, on Friday said that the shelter’s function has been compromised due to the damage, according to Ukrainian state media Ukrinform.
“There is a potential risk of radioactive substances being released due to certain actions that may occur at the old shelter facility,” the CNN quoted Tytarchuk.
While Tytarchuk also emphasised that the situation is currently under control, he added that repairs may require significant time and effort.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Friday that Moscow was not behind the attack.
“Most likely, this is yet another provocation,” Peskov told reporters. “This is exactly the kind of thing the Kyiv regime is known for and sometimes does not hesitate to do.”
According to reports, Russia has repeatedly been accused by Ukrainian and IAEA officials of risking a major nuclear incident during the conflict. During intense fighting near the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) in early 2022, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said “every principle of nuclear safety” had been “violated.”
Friday’s reported attack comes two days after Russian President Vladimir Putin and US counterpart Donald Trump held what Trump described as a “lengthy and highly productive” telephone call ahead of potential peace talks aimed at bringing Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine to an end after nearly three years of gruelling war.
According to reports, Unit 4 at Chernobyl near Ukraine’s border with Belarus exploded in 1986, sparking a radioactive disaster. The reactor was later encased in a concrete and steel sarcophagus.
The sarcophagus was the work of an international coalition and took decades to build. It was finally finished in 2017 and weighs 35,000 tonnes.
Andriy Yermak, Zelensky’s chief of staff, noted that the US “invested a lot of money and effort” in the sarcophagus, which was completed during Trump’s first term.
Trump’s unexpected phone call with Putin on Wednesday also sparked fears in Europe of a “dirty deal” being struck to end the war in Ukraine on terms favourable to Moscow without Kyiv’s involvement.
