At night, a Russian drone struck the sarcophagus of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant.

On the night of February 14, Russian military forces struck the shelter of the fourth power unit of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant with a strike drone.

This was reported by President Volodymyr Zelensky.

According to Zelensky, the Russians targeted the so-called sarcophagus with a drone equipped with a high-explosive warhead. The president shared surveillance footage showing the moment of impact.

The fire at the impact site has been extinguished, but the facility sustained significant damage. At the same time, Zelensky noted that there are currently no changes in the radiation background.

“This shelter was built by Ukraine together with other countries in Europe and around the world, including America – with everyone who seeks true safety for people. The only nation in the world capable of attacking such facilities, occupying nuclear station territories, and conducting military operations without regard for the consequences is today’s Russia. This poses a terrorist threat to the entire world,” Zelensky commented on the strike.

Energoatom and the IAEA did not promptly comment on the news of the strike.

Ukrainian officials had previously reported on Russia's preparations for strikes on nuclear power plants. For instance, President Zelensky mentioned last year that the Russians were using Chinese satellites to photograph Ukrainian nuclear power plants. These statements came amid reports of over a hundred Russian missiles and drones flying past Ukrainian nuclear facilities, creating a threat.

It is worth noting that last year, Ukrainian special services exposed former spies gathering data for the Russians regarding the security system, particularly at the Khmelnytskyi Nuclear Power Plant.

In addition to the occupation of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, during the ongoing large-scale Russian invasion, the Russians managed to:

• capture the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, which was looted before their retreat;
• launch missiles that flew over the territories of the South Ukraine (at least three times) and Khmelnytskyi Nuclear Power Plants;
• deliberately shelled a nuclear facility and a storage site for nuclear materials in Kharkiv.

ZMINA has thoroughly explained why the world remains unresponsive to Russian nuclear blackmail.