The nuclear reactor of the former Soviet Union power plant was fully destroyed in an accident in 1986 and a sarcophagus had to be built over the debris. It is not the first time that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces have targeted the facility.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said the drone attack “caused significant damage to the facility’s fuel reception building.” An IAEA team will soon visit the facility to inspect the damage, the agency said in a post on X.
Zelenskyy said Russia had also attacked 13 civilian facilities across Ukraine overnight. According to the Ukrainian leader, Moscow over the past week has launched 88 missiles, 3,250 drones and 1,800 guided aerial bombs against his country. Ukrainian media reported that at least seven people were killed and 61 injured in the latest Russian attacks.
The Ukrainian leader in his social media post stressed that “pressure on Russia must be increased.”
Ukraine, for its part, launched hundreds of drones at targets in Russia over the weekend, including around St. Petersburg on the final day of the city’s economic forum, which has come to known as Putin’s Davos. According to Russian exile media and news agencies, one person was killed and an oil depot caught fire.
Russia’s defense ministry said on Sunday that the Russian military had destroyed 500 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones in one day. Air defense systems shot down 11 guided aerial bombs and a rocket from a U.S.-made HIMARS multiple launch rocket system, the ministry said.
