Zelensky accuses Russia of deliberate Chernobyl nuclear facility strike

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday accused Russia of deliberately targeting the central nuclear fuel storage facility in the Chernobyl exclusion zone, after a drone strike sparked a fire at the site and drew condemnation from the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The strike on a facility holding large amounts of spent nuclear fuel from Ukraine's operating reactors raised alarm over nuclear safety, with the IAEA warning that military attacks on nuclear infrastructure violate core principles of nuclear protection. Radiation levels at the site remained within permitted limits following the attack.

A Russian drone hit the container reception building at the Chernobyl exclusion zone's central nuclear fuel storage facility late Saturday, partially destroying the structure and igniting a fire that burned across 40 square meters before crews extinguished it, according to Ukrainian state energy company Energoatom. Damage was also reported to the facades, windows and doors of neighboring buildings.

"Russia deliberately struck precisely this nuclear infrastructure facility," Zelensky wrote in a post on Telegram, calling the attack "an excess of Russia's already sky-high audacity." He said Russian forces conducted assaults across 13 Ukrainian regions overnight.

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said the incident was "deeply concerning," warning that "attacks on nuclear facilities were completely unacceptable and directly violated core principles of nuclear safety during armed conflict," according to an IAEA statement. Grossi noted the targeted site holds large amounts of nuclear material.

No spent nuclear fuel was stored in the container reception building at the time of the strike, Energoatom said. Radiation levels across the facility remained within established permitted limits following the attack, the company said.

The Chernobyl strike was part of a wider overnight campaign. Over the previous week, Russia deployed 88 rockets and cruise missiles, more than 3,250 combat drones and around 1,800 glide bombs against Ukraine, according to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry.

The attack came 40 years after the 1986 Chernobyl catastrophe and marked the latest in a series of strikes on Ukrainian nuclear infrastructure during the five-year conflict.