Russian Shahed Drone Strikes Nuclear Fuel Facility Near Chernobyl

Ukrainian officials confirmed a Russian drone hit a nuclear fuel storage site near Chernobyl, with President Zelensky condemning the attack as a deliberate strike on civilian nuclear infrastructure.

A Russian Shahed drone struck a nuclear fuel facility in the Chernobyl exclusion zone, Ukrainian officials said.
President Zelensky described the strike as 'extremely vile' and called it a targeted attack on nuclear infrastructure.
The Chernobyl site houses spent nuclear fuel and remains one of the most sensitive nuclear locations in Europe.
No radiation spike has been publicly confirmed at time of filing.
Ukraine has called on international partners to respond to what it characterized as nuclear terrorism.

A Russian Shahed drone struck a nuclear fuel facility near Chernobyl on Tuesday, Ukrainian officials confirmed, in an attack President Volodymyr Zelensky called “extremely vile.”

The facility, located inside the Chernobyl exclusion zone in northern Ukraine, stores spent nuclear fuel and sits on the site of the 1986 reactor disaster — the worst nuclear accident in history.

Ukrainian officials said the strike was deliberate and targeted critical nuclear infrastructure. No confirmed radiation increase in the surrounding area had been publicly reported at time of filing.

Zelensky posted a statement condemning the attack and urged international partners to treat the strike as an act of nuclear terrorism, according to reports reviewed by the Wail.

The Shahed series of loitering munitions, Iranian-designed and Russian-deployed, has been used in hundreds of strikes across Ukraine since 2022.

Ukraine's nuclear operator Energoatom and international monitoring bodies including the IAEA were expected to issue damage and radiation assessments. An IAEA statement was anticipated before the end of the day Tuesday.