Chornobyl Still Burning 2 Weeks After Russian Attack

[WBHG News] – Fifteen days after a Russian drone struck the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine, fires continue to burn in the New Safe Confinement (NSC) structure.

“Ukrainian firefighters are still trying to extinguish smoldering fires within the large structure built over the reactor destroyed in the 1986 Chornobyl nuclear accident,” Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said.

On 14 February, a Russian drone struck the NSC, which encases the remains of Reactor 4. The reactor exploded in April 1986 due to design flaws and operator negligence, causing the worst nuclear accident in world history. The drone created a six-meter-wide hole and ignited fires on the roof and within the confinement facility. The NSC, completed in 2016, was built to prevent the future release of radioactive material into the atmosphere and further protect the original shelter built over Reactor 4, which was decaying.

Radiation monitoring carried out by Ukraine and independent measurements done by the IAEA show radiational levels remain at normal levels inside and outside of Chornobyl.

Efforts by more than 400 firefighters, engineers, and technicians to put out the fire and start repairs are hampered by the normal background radiation left from the 1986 accident and repeated Russian attacks near Chornobyl. Onsite IAEA inspectors reported “multiple air raid alarms during the past week, at times forcing the suspension of the activities to extinguish the fires.”

The most serious incident included a Russian drone flying directly over a radioactive spent fuel storage facility at the Chornobyl site, according to the IAEA.

“The firefighters and other responders are working very hard in difficult circumstances to manage the impact and consequences of the drone strike. It was clearly a serious incident in terms of nuclear safety, even though it could have been much worse. As I have stated repeatedly during this devastating war, attacking a nuclear facility must never happen,” Director General Grossi said.

IAEA Confirms Drone was a Shahed-136

Photo of debris from the Shahed-136 drone that struck the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant found inside the NSC building by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) on 14 February 2025.

Experts with the IAEA, who have been given unrestricted access to the ongoing investigation, reviewed the collected drone debris in Kyiv on Thursday. “The team observed drone parts that they assessed are consistent with a Shahed-type unmanned aerial vehicle,” an IAEA spokesperson said.

However, the nuclear watchdog refused to provide “any further assessment” on who launched the Russian-built drone at Chornobyl. While the IAEA has never assessed blame for any attacks on Ukraine’s nuclear power plants, this was the first time the organization positively identified a weapon used in the attack.

Article 56 of International Humanitarian Law forbids all attacks on “nuclear electrical generating stations” without exception.

Ukrainian officials accused Russia of the attack, and the strike occurred during a larger drone attack in the region. Our team reviewed photos of the drone debris and concluded they were consistent with a Shahed-136.

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