Russian forces carried out multiple drone and missile attacks in Ukraine on Sunday, killing at least four people and damaging a nuclear storage facility near Chernobyl, Ukrainian officials reported. The strikes occurred as tensions remain high amid stalled peace efforts in the conflict, now entering its fifth year.
Ukrainian authorities said an Iranian-designed “Shahed” drone struck the Centralized Spent Fuel Storage Facility located in the Chernobyl exclusion zone, approximately 12 kilometers from the site of the 1986 nuclear disaster. The building’s reception area was reported to be partially destroyed, though radiation levels at the facility remained within normal background limits following the attack, according to Ukraine’s nuclear operator Energoatom and President Volodymyr Zelensky. Zelensky described the strike as an escalation of Russia's reckless aggression, labeling it a form of “nuclear terrorism.”
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced it was dispatching an inspection team to assess the situation. The agency characterized the attack as deeply concerning and emphasized that assaults on nuclear sites violate nuclear safety principles. Noting the damage caused, the IAEA stressed the importance of safeguarding such critical infrastructure. Ukraine’s Foreign Affairs Minister Andrii Sybiha condemned the strikes near the facility as systematic and deliberate.
In addition to the Chernobyl attack, Russian drone and missile strikes targeted multiple locations across Ukraine. In the southern Zaporizhzhia region, bombardment of a public transport stop resulted in at least two deaths, with a nearby drone strike killing a 56-year-old minibus driver. In the central Dnipropetrovsk region, a 59-year-old man was also reported killed.
These attacks came amid a reciprocal wave of Ukrainian strikes against Russian targets, including an assault on President Vladimir Putin’s hometown of St. Petersburg the previous day. Ukrainian forces targeted oil terminals and naval bases along the Baltic Sea coast during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, during which residents were advised to remain indoors amid security threats. Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed it shot down 376 Ukrainian drones during these operations. The forum had drawn high-level Russian officials, including Putin, who recently vowed to enhance Russia’s air defenses to counter drone attacks.
The recent flare-up follows the rejection by Putin of Zelensky’s proposal for direct peace talks and a ceasefire. Zelensky was scheduled to meet with Western allies in London on Sunday to discuss increased pressure on Russia to end the conflict. As the war continues, humanitarian tolls mount, with hundreds of thousands killed and millions displaced since the outset of the Russian invasion.