Drone Damages Chernobyl Reactor Shell, Radiation Levels Remain Normal | rssama.com

CHERNOBYL NUCLEAR POWER STATION, Ukraine (AP) — A drone equipped pinch a warhead deed nan protective outer ammunition of Ukraine’s Chernobyl atomic works early Friday, damaging nan building and concisely starting a fire, successful an onslaught Kyiv blamed connected Russia. The Kremlin denied it was responsible.

Radiation levels astatine nan shuttered works successful nan Kyiv region — tract of nan world’s worst atomic accident — person not increased, according to nan U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency, which said nan onslaught did not breach nan plant’s soul containment shell.

The IAEA did not property blame, saying only that its squad stationed astatine nan tract heard an detonation and was informed that a drone had struck nan shell.

Fighting astir atomic powerfulness plants has many times raised fears of a atomic catastrophe during 3 years of war, peculiarly successful a state wherever galore vividly retrieve surviving done nan 1986 Chernobyl disaster, which killed astatine slightest 30 group and spewed radioactive fallout complete overmuch of nan Northern Hemisphere.

The Zaporizhzhia atomic powerfulness plant, which is Europe’s biggest, has occasionally been deed by drones during nan warfare without causing important damage.

The deed connected Chernobyl occurred arsenic Ukraine is being slowly pushed back by Russia’s bigger service on parts of nan 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) beforehand statement and is desperately seeking much Western help.

Zelenskyy said a Russian drone pinch a high-explosive warhead deed nan plant’s outer ammunition and started a fire, which has been put out. The ammunition was built successful 2016 complete different dense actual containment structure, which was placed connected nan plant’s 4th reactor soon aft nan 1986 disaster. Both shells activity to forestall radiation leaks.

The Ukrainian Emergency Service provided a photograph that showed a spread punched successful nan tile of nan outer shell, which is simply a monolithic steel-and-concrete building weighing immoderate 40,000 tons (36,000 metric tons) and gangly capable to fresh Paris’ Notre Dame Cathedral inside.

In this photograph provided by nan Ukrainian Emergency Service, a searchlight illuminates a spread successful nan tile of a damaged sarcophagus, that covers nan destroyed 4th reactor of Chernobyl atomic powerfulness plant, pursuing a Russian drone onslaught successful Chernobyl, Ukraine, connected Feb. 14, 2025.

Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov denied Russia was responsible. “There is nary talk astir strikes connected atomic infrastructure, atomic power facilities. Any specified declare isn’t true. Our subject doesn’t do that,” Peskov said successful a convention telephone pinch reporters.

It was not imaginable to independently corroborate who was down nan strike. Both sides often waste and acquisition blasted erstwhile atomic sites travel nether attack.

Peskov alleged that nan onslaught was a “false flag” onslaught staged by Ukraine to incriminate Russia and to thwart efforts to extremity nan warfare done negotiations betwixt Trump and Putin.

“It’s evident that location are those (in nan Ukrainian government) who will proceed to reason immoderate attempts to motorboat a speech process, and it’s evident that those group will do everything to effort to derail this process,” Peskov said.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova described nan drone onslaught arsenic a “reckless” enactment by Kyiv and noted that Russia had been portion of nan world effort to build nan building that was hit.

Ukraine plans to supply elaborate accusation to U.S. officials astir nan Chernobyl onslaught during nan Munich Security Conference starting Friday, nan caput of Ukraine’s Presidential Office, Andrii Yermak, wrote connected his Telegram channel.

IAEA main Rafael Grossi said connected X that nan onslaught and nan caller summation successful subject activity adjacent Zaporizhzhia “underline persistent atomic information risks,” adding that nan IAEA remains “on precocious alert.”

The IAEA said its unit astatine nan tract responded wrong minutes of nan strike, adding location were nary casualties.

“Radiation levels wrong and extracurricular stay normal and stable,” nan IAEA said connected X.

Zelenskyy said connected Telegram that nan Chernobyl onslaught showed that Putin “is surely not preparing for negotiations” — a declare Ukrainian officials person many times made.

“The only authorities successful nan world that tin onslaught specified facilities, inhabit nan territory of atomic powerfulness plants, and behaviour hostilities without immoderate respect for nan consequences is today’s Russia. And this is simply a violent threat to nan full world,” he wrote.

“Russia must beryllium held accountable for what it is doing,” he added.

Novikov reported from Kyiv, Ukraine.