Ukrainian officials say Russian forces have deliberately struck a storage facility for spent nuclear fuel near the Chernobyl power plant. The reported attack put the focus back on the risks of fighting near sensitive nuclear sites.
The condemnation from Kyiv was sharp. President Volodymyr Zelensky described the strike as an extremely vile attack, framing it as a reckless act against a site holding hazardous nuclear material.
Despite the alarm, the most important early finding was reassuring. Officials said the strike did not lead to a spike in radiation, easing immediate fears of a wider environmental emergency.
The damage was nonetheless serious. The strike significantly damaged a fuel reception building, which sits only meters away from where large amounts of nuclear material are stored, underlining how close the impact came to a far more dangerous outcome.
On the human toll, the news was also positive. No injuries have been reported from the incident, and a research team is now planning to visit the site to inspect the impact and assess the state of the facility.
For now, key questions remain open. Russia has not publicly commented on the alleged strike on the facility, leaving Ukraine's account of what happened near Chernobyl as the main available description of the attack.