New Fires Spotted at Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant After Russian Drone Attack

Firefighting operations have resumed at the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant after three more fires were discovered in the aftermath of a Russian drone strike on February 14, Ukraine’s State Agency for Exclusion Zone Management reported on February 17.

“Fire suppression efforts have resumed: three smoldering hotspots have been identified. Two groups of climbers (four people each) are working on site, while a third group is securing the area to partially open the shelter structure and extinguish the remaining fires,” the statement said.

A total of 91 personnel and 18 emergency vehicles from Ukraine’s State Emergency Service have been deployed to the site. The situation is also being monitored by drones equipped with thermal imaging.

The Russian attack, which took place overnight on February 14, struck the New Safe Confinement (NSC) structure built over Reactor No. 4 of the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant.

The impact of the Shahed suicide drone and the subsequent fire compromised the integrity of the confinement’s outer shell and damaged equipment inside a crane maintenance garage.

Ukraine’s Security Service later found drone debris both inside and near the containment structure. According to expert assessments, the attack was deliberate, with Russian forces intentionally targeting the site.

The NSC was engineered to contain radiation leaks from the Chornobyl nuclear power plant.

In November 2016, it took two weeks to slide the colossal steel structure into place. Standing 109 meters tall and stretching 257 meters in length, it remains the largest movable metal structure in the world. The NSC covers the deteriorating concrete sarcophagus built over Reactor 4, the site of the April 1986 explosion that released massive amounts of radiation across Europe.

Earlier, Oleksandr Titarchuk, the Chornobyl nuclear plant’s chief engineer, confirmed that there is now a possibility of radioactive leakage, following a Russian drone strike.