Ukrainian officials said Sunday that a Russian drone struck a storage facility for spent nuclear fuel near the disused Chornobyl nuclear power plant, causing damage but no reported injuries or increase in radiation levels.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the strike targeted what he described as critical infrastructure about 15 kilometres from the Chornobyl site, which was the location of the 1986 nuclear disaster. He said Russia used a Shahed attack drone. Russia has not publicly commented on the allegation.
Ukraine’s state atomic agency, Energoatom, released images showing damage to a building at the facility. The agency said the structure hit was a fuel-reception building and that no spent nuclear fuel was stored there at the time of the incident. A fire that followed the strike was extinguished.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said it inspected the impact area and found that radiation levels remained within normal limits. The agency said the building sustained significant damage, but it did not report any release of radioactive material.
The incident comes amid continuing concerns about nuclear safety during Russia’s war in Ukraine. Chornobyl, although no longer an active power-generating plant, remains closely monitored because of its history and the radioactive materials still managed in the area.
Earlier in 2025, Ukraine said a Russian Shahed drone damaged the containment arch covering the reactor destroyed in the 1986 explosion and meltdown. Russia denied responsibility for that incident. The Chornobyl site has been a recurring point of international concern since the start of the full-scale invasion.
Nuclear safety issues have also surrounded the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine, Europe’s largest, which is under Russian occupation. Kyiv and Moscow have repeatedly accused each other of attacks or actions that could endanger the facility.
As of Sunday, Ukrainian officials and international monitors reported no abnormal radiation readings following the latest incident near Chornobyl.