A Russian Shahed drone struck a building at the Centralized Spent Fuel Storage Facility at Chornobyl, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday.
Officials of the International Atomic Energy Agency conducted on-site inspection Sunday. They said the drone strike caused serious structural damage to the Centralized Spent Fuel Storage Facility near Chornobyl.
IAEA inspectors found damage to the fuel reception building’s facade, walls, and staircase, with broken glass, bricks, and other debris on the ground, the agency said. Radiation levels at the facility remained normal and no radioactive contamination was detected, the IAEA confirmed.
The drone also damaged the IAEA’s own safeguards office, which was housed in the same building, the agency said. The IAEA said it would continue to investigate the incident.
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi called it “an extremely concerning incident and a close call in terms of nuclear safety.” He said attacking a facility holding large amounts of nuclear material was “like playing with fire and it must never happen.”
The IAEA said spent fuel was stored in casks a few hundred metres from the damaged building at the time of the strike, while casks closer to the impact were empty. When the facility will be able to resume accepting spent fuel from Ukraine’s operating nuclear power plants remains unclear, the agency said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy first announced the strike on X, saying first responders extinguished a fire at the facility after the attack. He described the strike as “extremely vile.”
“Russia deliberately struck this particular nuclear infrastructure facility,” Zelenskyy wrote.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Energy were already working to inform international partners, Zelenskyy said.
The attack came as Russian forces struck civilian facilities across 13 Ukrainian regions overnight, according to Zelenskyy. Over the past week, Russia launched 88 missiles, more than 3,250 attack drones, and around 1,800 guided aerial bombs against Ukraine, Zelenskyy said. He called for increased international pressure on Russia.
A global media for the latest news, entertainment, music fashion, and more.
