Chernobyl nuclear plant struck by Russian drone

‘No immediate danger’ say nuclear experts as Kremlin denies attack and accuses Ukraine of false flag’ operations

- ALASTAIR JAMIESON

A drone armed with a warhead hit the protective outer shell of Ukraine's Chernobyl nuclear plant early yesterday, punching a hole in the structure and briefly starting a fire, in an attack Kyiv has blamed on Russia. The Kremlin denied it was responsible.

Radiation levels at the shuttered plant in the Kyiv region – site of the world’s worst nuclear accident – have not increased, according to the UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which said the strike did not breach the plant’s inner containment shell.

The incident came as leaders gathered at the Munich Security Conference to discuss the war in Ukraine. Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for Russia’s foreign ministry, accused Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky of orchestrating the attack to coincide with the Munich event as part of a lobbying effort to secure more weapons and money from the West.