International07 June 2026

Russian drone strikes defunct Ukrainian power plant

A Russian drone struck a storage facility for spent nuclear ​fuel near Ukraine's disused Chornobyl power plant, ‌Ukrainian officials said on Sunday, adding that radiation levels at the site remained stable.

In separate statements, Kyiv's General ​Staff and the state atomic agency said ​a container-receiving building had been partially destroyed, ⁠but that no spent fuel had been ​stored there at the time of the attack.

A ​resulting fire was extinguished, and no injuries were reported.

Russia has not publicly commented on the alleged attack on the ​facility, which is located around 15 km (9 ​miles) from the Chornobyl plant, the site of the world's ‌worst ⁠nuclear disaster.

"This is not the first time Russian forces are putting Ukrainian nuclear facilities at risk," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote on X.
"Russia's ​nuclear blackmail ​and threats ⁠to nuclear safety are systemic, deliberate, and unacceptable."

In February 2025, a Russian ​attack drone damaged a containment arch ​over ⁠the Chornobyl reactor that was destroyed in the April 1986 explosion and meltdown. Russia denied responsibility.

Kyiv ⁠and ​Moscow have also traded accusations ​of attacking the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in southeastern Ukraine, ​Europe's largest.

-Reuters
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