A Russian attack drone struck a nuclear-fuel storage facility near Chornobyl on June 7, slamming into a building designed to receive spent reactor fuel roughly nine miles from the site of the 1986 nuclear disaster. Ukrainian authorities reported significant damage to the fuel-reception structure but stated radiation levels remain normal and no injuries occurred.
The weapon was a Shahed drone, also known as the Geran-2. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the strike as “extremely vile,” asserting it was a deliberate assault on critical nuclear infrastructure. Russia has not commented.
The International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA, called the attack “deeply concerning” for nuclear safety and said it is dispatching inspectors to verify containment integrity.
This marks the second Russian drone strike on the Chornobyl exclusion zone this year. In February, a drone damaged the New Safe Confinement arch over Reactor 4 without causing a radiation release.