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Russia has repeatedly launched drones and missiles along flight paths near the disused Chernobyl nuclear plant during attacks on Ukraine, increasing the risk of a major accident, according to a Reuters report citing an Ukrainian official.
Ukraine’s top state prosecutor, Ruslan Kravchenko, said Russian military activity near nuclear facilities has posed a growing danger as the country prepares to mark Sunday’s 40th anniversary of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.
Kravchenko said both the Chernobyl site and the Khmelnytskyi nuclear plant in western Ukraine have been on the flight path of Russian hypersonic Kinzhal missiles since Moscow’s full-scale invasion.
A total of 35 Kinzhal missiles have been detected within about 20 kilometers (12 miles) of the facilities, including 18 that passed within that range of both sites during the same flight, he said.
“Such launches cannot be explained by any military considerations. It is evident that the flights over the nuclear facilities are carried out solely for the purpose of intimidation and terror,” he said.
Since July 2024, when Russia intensified drone attacks, at least 92 drones have flown within a 5-kilometer radius of the Chernobyl plant’s radiation shield, according to Kravchenko.
Russia’s Defense Ministry did not respond to a request for comment, the report said.
Apart from the decommissioned Chernobyl facility, Ukraine operates four nuclear power plants, including Europe’s largest at Zaporizhzhia, which has been under Russian control since shortly after the invasion began in 2022.
The Chernobyl disaster in 1986 spread radioactive contamination across Europe and prompted a massive Soviet response. The plant’s last operational reactor was shut down in 2000.
Russian forces occupied the Chernobyl site for more than a month early in the war before withdrawing during their initial push toward Kyiv.
The exclusion zone around the plant remains one of the most radioactively contaminated areas in the world, covering a 30-kilometer radius.
The United Nations warned Monday of a sharp escalation in the conflict and the growing risk of a broader crisis.
“Since we last briefed this Council on developments in Ukraine, we have seen an alarming escalation of fighting, while there was no significant diplomatic progress,” said Khaled Khiari at a Security Council meeting.
“Russian attacks continue to intensify, with mounting civilian casualties and devastation across Ukraine,” he added.
Khiari said at least 15,578 Ukrainian civilians, including 784 children, have been killed since February 2022, with another 43,352 injured, according to the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Referring to Russia’s 32-hour Easter truce from April 11-12, he said: “We welcome any initiative, even a limited one, that would bring a respite for the civilian population.”
With the April 26 anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster approaching, Khiari warned of the catastrophic risks posed by military activity near nuclear facilities.
“It is imperative that all military activities near nuclear sites cease immediately,” he said.
“We cannot afford the risk of the conflict spiraling out of control with even higher human cost and unpredictable consequences for us all.”
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