The sarcophagus that encloses Chernobyl's reactor four received "significant" damage in the attack during the night towards Friday, says President Zelensky. The fire that broke out could be extinguished and no increased radiation levels have been measured, he writes on Telegram.
The EU's Foreign Minister Kaja Kallas views the attack seriously, she says according to AFP during the ongoing security conference in Munich.
Russia is bombing the nuclear power plant, which clearly shows that they do not want peace. Now it's up to us to decide and discuss how we support Ukraine right now. Our values have not changed and Russia's goals have not changed either.
"Heard an explosion"
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is on high alert after the incident, they report on X.
"During the night of 13-14 February, around 01:50, IAEA's team at Chernobyl heard an explosion from the new enclosure that protects the remains of reactor four at the former Chernobyl nuclear power plant", they write.
According to IAEA's information, it was a drone that attacked the sarcophagus. Pictures show a smaller fireball on the roof. However, there are no indications of damage to the inner part of the enclosure, reports IAEA.
Moscow: Not true
Russia denies the attack. The country's military does not attack nuclear infrastructure, claims the Kremlin's spokesperson Dmitrij Peskov.
Claims that something like this happened do not correspond to reality, he says according to AFP.
Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly warned of a potential catastrophe in Ukraine due to the fighting near the former Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which exploded in 1986, and Zaporizhzhya, which houses Europe's largest nuclear power plant today.
"Russia must be held accountable for what they do", says Zelensky after the night's attack, which according to the president shows that Russia's Vladimir Putin "absolutely does not prepare for negotiations" about peace.
