On 14 February 2025, an unmanned aerial vehicle hit the New Safe Confinement structure at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine. The attack resulted in significant damage to the protective shelter, but did not lead to increased radiation levels in the surrounding area.[1]Ukrainian PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskyy said that a Russian combat drone carrying a "high-explosive warhead" had struck the structure. Russia denied the allegations, instead suggesting that Ukrainian officials made the claim to disrupt peace negotiations.[2][3]
Visual evidence of the strike, shared by Zelenskyy on social media platformTwitter/X, depicted an intense flash of light emanating from roof of the facility above Reactor 4, followed by a substantial column of smoke rising into the sky. Ukrainian emergency services responded promptly to extinguish the resulting fire.[1][5]
Aftermath
Hole in the confinementEngine of the drone
Following the strike, Ukrainian authorities conducted immediate assessments of the structural damage and potential radiation risks. The State Emergency Service of Ukraine confirmed that radiation levels remained within normal parameters, though initial evaluations indicated substantial damage to the protective shelter. Zelenskyy later shared photographic evidence purportedly showing the interior of the damaged sarcophagus.[1][6]
IAEA experts conducted a walkdown of the containment structure the following day, and observed that the fire had apparently been fuelled by inflammable material in the roof cladding. They observed that a large area had been affected, and confirmed that both the outer and inner cladding had been breached, causing a hole of about six metres diameter. The structural support beams did not appear to have suffered major damage.[7] The IAEA has not attributed blame to either side of the conflict.[8]
Reactions
Zelenskyy described the attack and ongoing drone strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure as evidence that Russian leadership was not genuinely interested in diplomatic solutions, suggesting instead that such actions demonstrated an intent to "continue deceiving the world."[1] He urged the international community to institute "pressure on the aggressor", insisting that "Russia must be held accountable for its actions."[5]
The Russian government denied allegations of striking the power plant, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stating that "our military doesn't do that" and suggesting that Ukrainian officials made the claim to disrupt peace negotiations.[2] Senior Russian diplomat Rodion Miroshnik[ru] similarly accused Kyiv of reacting "hysterically" to the start of dialogue between Putin and Trump by launching large-scale drone attacks on Russian regions.[3]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
