Russia denies Ukrainian claim it struck Chernobyl reactor shell as radiation levels remain normal

[February 14, 2025]  By ILLIA NOVIKOV

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A Russian drone with a high-explosive warhead hit the protective containment shell of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the Kyiv region during the night, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday, but a senior Russian official rejected blame for the strike.

Radiation levels at the plant have not increased, Zelenskyy and a U.N. agency said. The International Atomic Energy Agency said the strike did not breach the plant's inner containment shell.

The IAEA did not attribute blame, saying only its team stationed at the site heard an explosion and were informed that a drone had struck the shell.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied the Ukrainian claims it was responsible. “There is no talk about strikes on nuclear infrastructure, nuclear energy facilities, any such claim isn’t true, our military doesn’t do that,” Peskov said in a conference call with reporters.

It was not possible to independently confirm who was behind the strike.

The strike came two days after U.S. President Donald Trump said he would meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss ending the war, in a move that seemed to identify Putin as the only player that matters and looked set to sideline Zelenskyy, as well as European governments, in any peace talks.

That was more unwelcome news for Ukraine, which is being slowly pushed backward by Russia’s bigger army along parts of the 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line and desperately needs more Western help.

Ukraine intends to provide detailed information to U.S. officials about the Chernobyl strike during the Munich Security Conference starting Friday, the head of Ukraine’s Presidential Office, Andrii Yermak, wrote on his Telegram channel.

Zelenskyy said that the strike damaged the structure and started a fire, which has been put out. The Ukrainian Emergency Service provided a photograph it said showed a searchlight illuminating a ragged hole in the roof of the damaged sarcophagus.

Peskov suggested, without presenting evidence, that Ukrainian officials made the claim about a drone strike because they wanted to thwart efforts to end the war through negotiations between Trump and Putin.

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, a searchlight illuminates a hole in the roof of a damaged sarcophagus, that covers the destroyed 4th reactor of Chernobyl nuclear power plant, following a Russian drone attack in Chernobyl, Ukraine, Friday, Feb. 14, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

“It’s obvious that there are those (in the Ukrainian government) who will continue to oppose any attempts to launch a negotiation process, and it’s obvious that those people will do everything to try to derail this process,” Peskov said.

The U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency said the Chernobyl strike occurred at 1:50 a.m. local time (2350 GMT).

The outer shell that was hit is a protective cover built in 2016 over a heavy concrete containment structure. The inner layer was placed on the plant's fourth reactor soon after the 1986 disaster, which was one of the worst accidents in nuclear history. The containment shells seek to prevent radiation leaks.

The three-year Russia-Ukraine war has brought repeated warnings of dangers to Ukraine’s four nuclear plants, especially at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine, which is Europe’s biggest and one of the 10 largest in the world.

IAEA chief Rafael Rossi said on X that the Chernobyl strike and the recent increase in military activity near the Zaporizhzhia plant “underline persistent nuclear safety risks,” adding that the IAEA remains “on high alert.”

The IAEA said its personnel at the site responded within minutes of the strike, adding there were no casualties.

“Radiation levels inside and outside remain normal and stable,” the IAEA said on X.

Zelenskyy claimed on Telegram that the Chernobyl strike showed that “Putin is certainly not preparing for negotiations” — a claim Ukrainian officials have repeatedly made.

“The only state in the world that can attack such facilities, occupy the territory of nuclear power plants, and conduct hostilities without any regard for the consequences is today’s Russia. And this is a terrorist threat to the entire world,” he wrote.

“Russia must be held accountable for what it is doing,” he added.

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