A Russian Shahed drone struck a building used to store spent nuclear fuel near the Chornobyl nuclear power plant on June 7, 2026 at approximately 2am, substantially damaging the reception building. The facility is located about 9 miles from the Chornobyl plant. No personnel were injured and radiation levels remained within normal limits, confirmed by both Energoatom and the International Atomic Energy Agency, which is preparing to visit the site.
Chornobyl drone strike
- ▪No personnel were injured in the June 7, 2026 drone strike on the Chornobyl spent fuel storage facility
- ▪A Russian Shahed drone struck a building used to store spent nuclear fuel near the Chornobyl nuclear power plant on June 7, 2026 at approximately 2am
- ▪Russia has not publicly commented on the June 7, 2026 attack on the Chornobyl spent fuel storage facility
- ▪The Russian drone strike on June 7, 2026 substantially damaged the reception building of the spent fuel storage facility near Chornobyl
- ▪A fire covering about 40 square metres broke out after the June 7, 2026 strike on the Chornobyl spent fuel storage facility and was extinguished
- ▪The spent fuel storage facility struck on June 7, 2026 is located about 9 miles from the Chornobyl plant
Radiation safety assessment
- ▪The International Atomic Energy Agency said radiation levels at the Chornobyl spent fuel storage facility remained within established levels after the June 7, 2026 strike despite significant damage
- ▪The International Atomic Energy Agency said its experts were preparing to visit the Chornobyl spent fuel storage facility after the June 7, 2026 strike
- ▪Energoatom said radiation levels at the Chornobyl spent fuel storage facility remained within normal limits after the June 7, 2026 strike
Ukrainian leadership response
- ▪Andrii Sybiha, Ukraine's foreign minister, stated that Russian forces putting Ukrainian nuclear facilities at risk is not the first time
- ▪Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the June 7, 2026 Chornobyl drone strike as a deliberate and extremely vile attack on critical infrastructure
- ▪Volodymyr Zelenskyy was scheduled to meet Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz on June 8, 2026 at a summit in London to discuss the continuing conflict
Escalating long-range attacks
- ▪Russia's defence ministry said on June 8, 2026 its air defences had downed 500 Ukrainian drones in the past 24 hours
- ▪A long-range Ukrainian strike targeted the historic naval town of Kronstadt near St Petersburg on June 6, 2026 as the city's economic forum was winding up
- ▪The Kremlin has threatened to escalate systematic attacks on key sites including decision-making centres in Ukraine
Nuclear facility targeting pattern
- ▪In February 2025, a Russian attack drone damaged a containment arch over the Chornobyl reactor that was destroyed in the 1986 explosion and meltdown
- ▪Kyiv and Moscow have traded accusations of attacking the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in south-eastern Ukraine
- ▪The centralised spent nuclear fuel storage facility near Chornobyl is designed to provide long-term storage for spent nuclear fuel from Ukraine's nuclear power plants
Perspective of Ukraine (Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Andrii Sybiha)
- ▪Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the June 7, 2026 Chornobyl drone strike as a deliberate and extremely vile attack on critical infrastructure
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