Ukraine-Russia war latest: Missiles fired by Moscow at Chernobyl nuclear plant risk ‘major accident’, Kyiv warns
Russian drones and missiles flying past the Chernobyl nuclear power plant risk causing a major accident, Ukraine’s top state prosecutor said, as the country prepares to mark the 40th anniversary of the 1986 disaster on Sunday.
Prosecutor general Ruslan Kravchenko revealed that Ukraine detected at least 92 drones within a 5km radius of the plant’s radiation shield since July 2024. Thirty-five Kinzhal hypersonic missiles have also been detected within 20km of the facility or the Khmelnytskyi plant, he said.
“Such launches cannot be explained by any military considerations. It is evident that the flights over the nuclear facilities are carried out solely for the purpose of intimidation and terror,” Kravchenko said.
The Russian military, he said, was likely using Chernobyl as an attack route for drones to try to bypass dense areas of Ukrainian air defence coverage.
He added that deliberate flights were “at least extremely irresponsible and indicate a complete disregard… for the safety of civilians not only in Ukraine, but throughout Europe”.
The UN nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, has repeatedly warned that military activity near such sites risks a nuclear accident. In February last year, an object identified by Ukraine as a long-range Russian attack drone struck the Chernobyl facility, piercing the radiation containment shield.
