Ukraine: Russian drone hits nuclear-fuel storage facility
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called a Russian attack on a nuclear storage facility near Chernobyl "vile." The UN's nuclear watchdog said no increased radiation
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called a Russian attack on a nuclear storage facility near Chernobyl "vile." The UN's nuclear watchdog said no increased radiation had been registered at the site. A Russian drone has struck a storage facility for spent nuclear fuel near the disused Chernobyl (Chornobyl) plant, Ukrainian officials said on Sunday. The UN's nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, said it had been informed of the attack and that radiation levels at the site had remained stable. The facility is located around 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the Chernobyl plant, the site of the world's worst nuclear disaster in 1986. The incident comes as British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is set to host the leaders of Ukraine, France and Germany to discuss ongoing support for Ukraine in its fight against the Russian full-scale invasion.
What do we know about the attack? Kyiv's General Staff and the state atomic agency issued separate statements on the incident, saying a container-receiving building had been partially destroyed in the strike. They said that the facility did not contain any spent fuel at the time of the attack. A fire that broke out after the attack was successfully extinguished, with no injuries reported. In a statement, the IAEA said a team would soon visit the site "to inspect the impact." Zelenskyy calls attack 'extremely vile' Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the attack "an extremely vile Russian strike." "Today, the Russians again struck the special territory around the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant. A 'shahed' hit one of the buildings of the Centralized Spent Fuel Storage Facility," he wrote on X, referring to a common Russian attack drone.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote on X that it was not the first time that Russia had put nuclear facilities in Ukraine at risk. "Russia's nuclear blackmail and threats to nuclear safety are systemic, deliberate, and unacceptable," he wrote on X. In February 2025, a containment arch over the damaged Chernobyl reactor was hit by a Russian drone in an attack denied by Moscow. Both sides have also accused each other of attacking the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in southeastern Ukraine. UK to hold Ukraine support meeting As Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine continues in its fifth year, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is to hold a meeting on Sunday with Zelenskyy and European partners on support for Kyiv. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron will be present at the talks.
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