On February 14, 2025, five technicians were securing themselves with wires while working atop a towering steel framework at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Their task was to extinguish remaining smoldering insulation ignited by a drone strike at 1:59 a.m. That night, the temperature hovered below freezing and snow fell, complicating efforts to stabilize the damaged area.
The hole created by the drone attack was substantial, measuring approximately 540 square feet. Officials noted that this breach posed serious risks, particularly to the protective shell surrounding Reactor No. 4—the site of the catastrophic nuclear disaster in 1986. Ukrainian sources identified the strike as a deliberately targeted attack carried out by a Russian drone armed with a high-explosive warhead, marking one of the most alarming aggressions since the onset of the Ukraine conflict nearly three years ago.
Despite the severity of the incident, radiation levels within and around the Chernobyl site remained within safe limits. Reports confirmed that the concrete and steel "sarcophagus" encasing the reactor and its hazardous remnants was intact, with no injuries or fatalities occurring as a result of the strike.
Ukrainian officials condemned the attack, labeling it a bold and reckless move that risked a nuclear disaster, particularly as it coincided with an international summit of world leaders in Munich. The brazen nature of the strike underscores the ongoing military tensions and the looming threats facing critical infrastructure amid the war, leaving both local and global communities on high alert.
