Ukraine accuses Russia of striking a nuclear facility near Chernobyl

Ukraine on Sunday accused Russia of carrying out a drone attack on a spent nuclear fuel storage facility located near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the north of the country. According to the Ukrainian president Volodymyr ZelenskyThe strike deliberately targeted sensitive infrastructure linked to the site of the 1986 nuclear disaster.

According to Ukrainian authorities, the drone damaged a spent fuel reception building located a few meters from an area where nuclear materials are stored. A fire broke out after the impact but was quickly brought under control. No injuries were reported.

The International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed it had been informed of the incident and indicated that its observers had noted significant structural damage to the affected building, including to the facade, walls, and staircases. Offices used by the agency on the site were also damaged.

Ukrainian authorities and the IAEA clarified, however, that no abnormal increase in radioactivity had been detected. Radiation levels remained within normal limits and no radioactive contamination was reported.

According to the Ukrainian nuclear operator Energoatom, no spent nuclear fuel was stored in the building hit at the time of the strike, which limited the risks of a more serious incident.

Russia has not publicly responded to the Ukrainian accusations. This episode comes as Moscow and Kyiv continue to accuse each other of endangering nuclear safety, particularly around the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe.

The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant site remains one of the most sensitive places in the global nuclear sector since the explosion of reactor No. 4 in April 1986, considered the worst civilian nuclear disaster in history.