Russian drone hits Chernobyl's protective dome: Ukraine

By AFP | 2025-02-14

KYIV -- Ukraine is denouncing Russia for attacking the shuttered Chernobyl nuclear power plant and risking the release of deadly radiation.

The plant was the site of a catastrophic failure and radiation leak in 1986 that imperiled all of Europe.

The Ukrainian air force reported on February 14 that Russia had launched 133 drones across the country overnight -- including attack drones -- targeting northern regions of the country where the Chernobyl power plant lies.

"Last night, a Russian attack drone with a high-explosive warhead struck the cover protecting the world from radiation at the destroyed 4th power unit of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a social media post, adding that radiation levels are normal at the station.

The comments came just hours before Zelenskyy was due to meet with US Vice President JD Vance in Germany.

EU slams Moscow for attack

The attack demonstrates that Russian President Vladimir "Putin is definitely not preparing for negotiations -- he is preparing to continue deceiving the world," Zelenskyy said.

The European Union (EU)'s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, agreed that the drone strike showed Moscow did not "want peace" in Ukraine.

"Russia is bombing the nuclear station, so it clearly shows that they don't want peace," Kallas said on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on February 14. "So what is up to us right now is to decide and discuss how we support Ukraine right now ... because our values haven't changed; the goals of Russia haven't changed either."

Closed circuit TV footage posted by Zelenskyy showed a blast on the side of the Chernobyl structure in footage that was timestamped 2.02 am.

The Kremlin denied that its army targeted Ukrainian nuclear structures.

"There is no question of any strikes on such nuclear infrastructure sites ... Any claims that this was the case do not correspond to reality. The Russian military does not do this," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said after stating that he did not have "exact information" about the reported hit on Chernobyl.

Zelenskyy's video also showed a small fire and hole in the roof and firefighters using a hose to douse the blaze from the inside of the dome.

The drone flew at an altitude of 85 meters, too low to be detected by radar, he said.

'Hostile attacks'

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) also reported an "explosion" at the site and said "radiation levels inside and outside remain normal and stable."

The agency, which has had a team deployed at Chernobyl since the early stages of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, published images apparently showing the drone on fire after crashing into the covering.

The IAEA has repeatedly warned of the dangers of fighting around nuclear plants following Russia's full-scale military offensive into Ukraine in February 2022.

In the first days of the conflict, Russian forces briefly seized the Chernobyl plant and also captured the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in southern Ukraine, which it still controls.

In 1986, a reactor at Chernobyl exploded during a botched safety test, resulting in the world's worst nuclear accident. It sent clouds of radiation across much of Europe and forced tens of thousands of inhabitants to evacuate.

Soviet authorities initially tried to cover up and then play down the disaster.

In November 2016, a massive metal dome was erected over the remains of the reactor -- paid for with €2.1 billion ($2.5 billion) in international funding -- to stop future leaks.

"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," Zelenskyy added in his statement.

The Ukrainian energy ministry meanwhile "called on the IAEA to intensify efforts to prevent hostile attacks on nuclear facilities."

Russian drone and missile attacks on energy facilities throughout the conflict have crippled Ukrainian electricity generation capacity and forced routine and widespread power outages.

The apparent attack comes ahead of a series of highly anticipated meetings at the Munich Security Conference on Friday, in which Zelenskyy is due to sit down with Vance.