Zelenskyy accuses Russia of deliberate strike on Chernobyl facility

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Moscow on Sunday of deliberately targeting the exclusion zone around the decommissioned Chernobyl nuclear power plant, after a drone struck a building at the central storage facility for nuclear fuel.

He described the overnight incident as an "extraordinarily treacherous Russian attack." The Ukrainian foreign ministry, energy ministry and other relevant offices were informing Kyiv's partners about the incident, Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram. "Russia deliberately struck precisely this nuclear infrastructure facility," Zelenskyy said.

While radiation levels had not exceeded permitted limits, he said there had been "an excess of Russia's already sky-high audacity." The container reception building was partially destroyed in the overnight attack, state energy company Energoatom posted on Telegram.

No spent nuclear fuel had been stored there, it added, noting that radiation levels were within established limits.

A fire broke out in an area of 40 square meters and was subsequently extinguished, the company said.

The central storage facility in the ex