Nuclear Safety Threats Escalate as Russian Drone Strikes Cut Power to Chernobyl Site

Russia launched over 20 Shahed drones against energy infrastructure in Slavutych, according to President Zelensky.

Kyiv, Ukraine:

Russia's persistent attacks on Ukraine's power infrastructure are heightening concerns about nuclear safety after a drone strike caused a power outage lasting more than three hours at the Chernobyl nuclear disaster site in northern Ukraine, officials reported on Thursday.

This drone attack compounds worries that emerged over a week ago when the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine was disconnected from the power grid following attacks that both sides have attributed to each other.

Although both Chernobyl and Zaporizhzhia are currently non-operational, they require continuous power supply to maintain critical cooling systems for spent fuel rods to prevent potential nuclear incidents.

A power outage could also disable radiation monitoring systems installed at Chernobyl, which are operated by the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency to enhance security.

"Russia is deliberately creating the threat of radiation incidents," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated late Wednesday, criticizing the UN nuclear watchdog and its director Rafael Mariano Grossi for what he characterized as inadequate responses to the danger.

"Every day of Russia's war, every strike on our energy facilities, including those connected to nuclear safety, is a global threat," he emphasized. "Weak and half-measures will not work. Strong action is needed."

Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed Ukrainian allegations that Russia has been targeting power lines around the Zaporizhzhia plant as "nonsense" and instead accused Ukraine of attacking the Moscow-controlled facility, warning that Russia might retaliate similarly.

The conflict that followed Russia's full-scale invasion more than three years ago shows no signs of resolution, despite months of US-led peace initiatives.

In his nightly video address, Zelensky revealed that Russia deployed over 20 Shahed drones against energy infrastructure in Slavutych, the city that provides power services to Chernobyl, site of the world's worst nuclear accident.

A swarm of drones overwhelmed defenses on Wednesday causing a blackout that affected the sarcophagus preventing radioactive dust from escaping the destroyed fourth reactor and storage facilities containing more than 3,000 tons of spent fuel. No specific details were provided about the impact.

"The Russians could not have been unaware that a strike on Slavutych would have such consequences for Chernobyl," Zelensky stated.

In February last year, a drone carrying a warhead struck Chernobyl's protective outer shell, briefly igniting a fire. Officials reported that radiation levels did not increase.

The Zaporizhzhia plant, Europe's largest and among the world's ten biggest nuclear facilities, has been disconnected from the grid for over a week.

It has frequently been caught in crossfire during the war. While Zelensky blamed Russian artillery for cutting the power line to the plant, Putin mocked this claim, asking: "are we striking ourselves?"

Putin accused Ukraine of "playing a dangerous game" by attacking the plant, ominously adding: "People on the other side must understand that if they continue this dangerous game, they also have functioning nuclear power plants."

"What would prevent us from responding in kind?" he further questioned. "Let them think about it."

The facility currently relies on emergency diesel generators to operate cooling systems for its six shutdown reactors and spent fuel.

The IAEA maintains that while the plant is not in immediate danger, it should be promptly reconnected to the grid.

Ukraine's Energy Ministry described the situation as unprecedented: "No nuclear power plant in the world has ever operated under such conditions, and it is impossible to make any reliable forecasts," it stated to The Associated Press.

Edwin Lyman, director of nuclear power safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists, an American nonprofit organization, explained that no nuclear plant was designed to safely function for extended periods without stable off-site power.

"The situation at Zaporizhzhia is indeed extremely fragile and increasingly dire," he told AP.

If cooling power were disrupted to one or more units, it would take "several days or longer" before the reactor cores or spent fuel pools might begin releasing significant quantities of radioactive material, according to Lyman.

The US-based Institute for the Study of War asserted that Russia's occupation of Zaporizhzhia has "significantly degraded" the plant's security.

On Wednesday, the institute claimed that Moscow intends to integrate the plant into the Russian grid—a move that would "exacerbate security risks, degrade Ukraine's future power generation capacity, and serve as a tool that Russia can use to legitimize its occupation of Ukraine."

Russia and Ukraine exchanged hundreds of prisoners of war on Thursday.

Zelensky announced that 185 military personnel, most of whom had been in Russian captivity since 2022, and 20 civilians were returned home.

Since the war began, more than 7,000 Ukrainians have returned, Zelensky stated on Telegram.

Russia's Defense Ministry confirmed that 185 of its soldiers and 20 civilians were returned.