In the latest developments, Ukraine has alleged that Russia carried out a drone strike on the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, causing significant damage to a radiation shelter. This incident has raised concerns about a potential leakage of deadly radiation.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky made a statement regarding the attack, mentioning that a Russian attack drone equipped with a high-explosive warhead targeted the protective shelter of the 4th power unit at the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant. The shelter, crucial for containing radiation from the 1986 nuclear disaster, was reportedly hit by the drone.

Zelensky added that although the shelter sustained damage, the fire resulting from the attack has been put out. The protective cover plays a vital role in containing radiation emissions, especially following the catastrophic events of 1986 when a radioactive cloud spread across Europe.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported an ‘explosion’ at the site and said it is continuing to monitor the plant, but added that radiation levels have not increased and remain stable.

CCTV footage posted by the Ukrainian leader showed a blast on the side of the Chernobyl structure in footage that was timestamped 02:02 am (0002 GMT).

The video also showed a fire erupting and hole in the roof, with firefighters using a hose to extinguish the blaze from the inside of the dome.

Zelensky said Russia is ‘the only country in the world that attacks such sites, occupies nuclear power plants, and wages war without any regard for the consequences,’ adding that it is ‘a terrorist threat to the entire world.’

His warning came after Donald Trump announced that representatives from Ukraine and Russia would meet along with US officials at a security conference in Munich today.

Russia is not officially attending the conference and has not commented on Trump’s claims that talks would be held between the warring parties. 

Meanwhile a senior Ukrainian official said ‘talks with Russians in Munich’ were ‘not expected’. 

Zelensky is set to meet with US Vice President JD Vance Secretary of State Marco Rubio today.

Vance told the Wall Street Journal that ‘everything is on the table’ in an effort to guarantee Kyiv’s long-term independence as Trump prepares to meet with his Russian counterpart and iron out a deal.

‘There are economic tools of leverage, there are of course military tools of leverage’ the US could use against Putin,’ Vance told the newspaper.

Zelensky is expected to warn the US against trusting Putin after Trump said on Thursday that he ‘trusts’ the Russian dictator when he says he wants peace.

During a bombshell phone call between the two leaders on Wednesday, Trump said he had agreed with Putin to start Ukraine peace talks soon and exchange friendly visits – a sea change after years in which the Russian president was internationally isolated.

In the wake of the call, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth suggested that Ukraine will not return to its pre-2014 borders nor become a member of NATO.

His statements are widely seen as a major victory for Putin and a devastating blow to Kyiv, which as a result could be forced to cede vast swathes of territory without the prospect of a security guarantee.

Moscow has frequently accused Ukraine of seeking to attack nuclear power plants with drones, which Kyiv has resolutely denied.

Wreckage of the military drone that hit the wrecked Chernobyl reactor cover was shown but the type was not immediately clear.

Russian Telegram channels claimed the strike was likely a Ukrainian stunt to derail peace talks.

Bloknot reported it was ‘looking like a Ukrainian attempt to pull apart peace deal negotiations’.

Moscow itself has not immediately responded to Ukraine’s allegations.

The IAEA confirmed this morning rhat an explosion was heard overnight from the new safe confinement, which protects the remains of reactor 4 of the former nuclear power plant, starting a fire. 

It said that fire safety personnel responded within minutes, with no casualties reported, and added that radiation levels inside and outside ‘remain normal and stable.’

The agency, which has had a team deployed at Chernobyl since the early stages of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, published images apparently showing the drone on fire after crashing into the covering.

The IAEA has repeatedly warned of the dangers of fighting around nuclear plants following Russia’s full-scale military offensive into Ukraine in February 2022.

Russia previously occupied the site of Chernobyl earlier in the war before retreating.

The 1986 Chernobyl fire remains the world’s worst nuclear disaster. It occurred when a nuclear reactor at the plant 80 miles north of Kyiv exploded, sending pollution across Europe.

The incident happened while Ukraine was part of the USSR, with Soviet officials initially playing down the disaster, slowing the response.

The damaged reactor was later covered by a protective shell to prevent leaks with the construction of the Chernobyl New Safe Confinement completed in 2018.

Meanwhile the Kremlin this morning accused Ukraine of carrying out an artillery attack on a thermal power plant it controls in southern Ukraine, which is located near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station. 

Russian-installed local officials said the attack on the power plant in the city of Enerhodar had occurred late on February 13 and had left more than 50,000 people without electricity.

Urgent work was under way to try to restore electricity supplies.

Russian news agencies cited a nuclear plant official as saying that the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant itself had not been damaged in the attack and was operating as usual.

IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said the incident at Chernobyl and recent increase in military activity around Zaporizhzhia highlight ongoing nuclear safety risks. 

‘There is no room for complacency, and the IAEA remains on high alert,’ he said. 

WHAT HAPPENED DURING THE 1986 CHERNOBYL NUCLEAR DISASTER?

On April 26, 1986 a power station on the outskirts of Pripyat suffered a massive accident in which one of the reactors caught fire and exploded, spreading radioactive material into the surroundings.

More than 160,000 residents of the town and surrounding areas had to be evacuated and have been unable to return, leaving the former Soviet site as a radioactive ghost town.

 A map of the Chernobyl exclusion zone is pictured above. The ‘ghost town’ of Pripyat sits nearby the site of the disaster

The exclusion zone, which covers a substantial area in Ukraine and some of bordering Belarus, will remain in effect for generations to come, until radiation levels fall to safe enough levels.

The region is called a ‘dead zone’ due to the extensive radiation which persists. 

However, the proliferation of wildlife in the area contradicts this and many argue that the region should be given over to the animals which have become established in the area – creating a radioactive protected wildlife reserve.