Russia fires missiles near Chernobyl as threatening horror nuclear disaster | World | News
Russia has fired missiles near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine as Kyiv’s state prosecutor warns this could spark a nuclear disaster. Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko told Reuters this amounted to Russian terror. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) watchdog has previously warned that such attacks risk a “nuclear accident”.
A February 2025 drone strike severely damaged the New Safe Confinement (NSC) shield at Chernobyl, causing it to lose its primary containment function. While radiation levels remain stable and no radioactive material was immediately released, the damage to the structure covering the 1986 disaster site poses significant long-term nuclear safety risks that require immediate repair.
The strike damaged the outer cladding of the NSC, resulting in roughly 330 openings and impacting the crane system used for maintenance.
Greenpeace Ukraine has also warned of the impending collapse of the Chernobyl sarcophagus, or Object Shelter.
This is a massive, hastily built steel and concrete structure completed in November 1986 to enclose the destroyed Reactor 4, containing roughly 200 tonnes of radioactive fuel and debris.
Due to rapid construction and structural instability, it was replaced by the 108-metre NSC in 2016.
Shaun Burnie, senior nuclear specialist at Greenpeace Ukraine, said: “The Russian drone strike has now increased the risk that the Sarcophagus will collapse before it can be carefully dismantled.
“Greenpeace has a simple and clear message: the Russian crime of attacking Chornobyl must be punished, including maximum sanctions against its nuclear agency, Rosatom.”
