Russian drone with explosive warhead strikes Chornobyl nuclear plant sarcophagus

He shared the information on Telegram.

"A Russian strike drone with a fragmentation warhead hit the shelter this night that protects the world from radiation from the destroyed 4th reactor unit at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant. This sarcophagus was built by Ukraine together with other European and world countries, along with America - along with all those who want true safety for people. The only country in the world that can attack such objects, occupy nuclear power plant territories, and conduct military operations without considering the consequences is today’s Russia. And this is a terrorist threat to the entire world," the president emphasized.

According to Zelenskyy, the shelter at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant was damaged by this drone. The fire that broke out as a result of the attack was extinguished. Currently, the radiation levels have not increased, and constant monitoring is in place. According to initial assessments, the damage to the shelter is significant, the President of Ukraine added.

"Russia carries out such attacks every night against Ukrainian infrastructure and our cities. Russia continues to expand its army. Russia has not changed its insane, anti-human state rhetoric. And this means that Putin is certainly not preparing for negotiations. He is preparing to continue deceiving the world. That is why unified pressure from everyone who values life is needed - pressure on the aggressor. Russia must be held accountable for what it is doing," Zelenskyy emphasized.

IAEA confirmed that on the night of February 14, an explosion occurred above the sarcophagus protecting the remains of the destroyed 4th reactor at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant, and a fire broke out.

The State Emergency Service of Ukraine reported that after the Russian drone strike on the shelter of the 4th reactor unit at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant, radiation levels remain within the normal range. At the industrial site of the Chornobyl NPP, a level of 0.57 µSv/h was recorded, which does not exceed permissible values.

Head of the President's Office Andriy Yermak reported that a lot of information regarding Russia's strike on Chornobyl will be shared with American partners.

"Right now, the atmosphere here in Munich is such that everyone is really angry about this news. Not 'concerned,' as is often the case, but truly angry. Because in the 1980s, the whole world helped the Kremlin deal with this tragedy when Moscow sent unprotected people to handle radiation, while Gorbachev received robots, equipment, and scientists. Then the entire world invested in the shelter, and today these Russian idiots launched a drone at it," he said.  

Later, while speaking at the Munich Security Conference, President Zelenskyy stated that the Russian strike was aimed at the sarcophagus covering the reactor unit of the nuclear plant. He also called this attack a "greeting from Putin" to the participants of the Munich conference.  

"The drone flew at an altitude of 85 meters. Radars don’t detect this height. This suggests that if radars can’t detect it at that height, the Russians did it intentionally. The strike was directly at the sarcophagus, on the first day of the Munich conference. It seems to me this is a very clear 'hello' from Putin and Russia regarding the security conference. This shows that the person definitely doesn’t want peace, at least under the conditions he’s currently in," the president stated.

"I believe that he currently has enough comfortable conditions to strike at the Chornobyl nuclear plant. Because when a person is squeezed from all sides, I don't think they would do that. And if a person wants dialogue and the end of the war, they wouldn’t do such a thing," Zelenskyy added.

"I can compare this to the capture of the Zaporizhzhia NPP": Halushchenko on the strike on the Chornobyl NPP shelter

Ukraine's Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko noted that strikes on the energy system occur daily, but he called the attack on Chornobyl "another red line that has once again been crossed by the Russians," according to Esprit correspondent Kateryna Halko.

"I can compare this to the capture of the Zaporizhzhia NPP on the night of March 3-4, 2022, when they shelled the station with heavy weaponry. What happened last night is in fact very close to that in terms of consequences. And when the whole world was building this shelter, with more than 45 countries participating to protect the world from the aftermath of a nuclear disaster, this strike, which was essentially aimed at destroying this shelter, seems to me to be a very symbolic response from the Russians to all the initiatives and everything happening in terms of nuclear and radiation safety worldwide," Halushchenko commented.

Ukrainian journalist Andrii Tsaplienko shared a photo of a puncture hole in the nuclear plant sarcophagus and a Shahed drone engine fragment. 

"This is what Putin thinks about negotiations," he wrote.

• On the night of February 14, the Ukrainian Defense Forces destroyed 73 out of 133 Shahed strike drones, while 58 drones failed to reach their targets and were lost in location.