Ukraine's chief state prosecutor told Reuters that Russia had frequently shot drones and missiles on a flight path close to the abandoned Chornobyl nuclear reactor during strikes on Ukraine, increasing the possibility of a significant disaster.
As Ukraine gets ready to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the 1986 Chornobyl accident on Sunday, Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko described in written statements the previously undisclosed Russian military operations near Ukrainian nuclear plants.
Ukraine has four nuclear power reactors, including Europe's largest, which is located in the southern Zaporizhzhia area and has been under Russian occupation since shortly after Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, aside from the defunct Chornobyl power plant.Since the invasion, Russian hypersonic Kinzhal missiles have been flying above the Chornobyl facility and the two-reactor Khmelnytskyi nuclear plant in western Ukraine, according to Kravchenko.
According to him, 35 Kinzhals have been found at different distances within about 20 kilometres (12 miles) of the Khmelnytskyi plant or the Chornobyl site. He noted that 18 of those flew within 20 km of both locations.There is no military explanation for such launches. He stated, "It is clear that the flights over the nuclear facilities are done only to intimidate and terrorise."
A request for comment on this article was not answered by Russia's defence ministry."IAEA Director General (Rafael) Grossi has repeatedly expressed deep concern about the risks and dangers of these military activities for ​nuclear safety and security," it stated.In order to reduce the risk of a nuclear accident, the DG has also asked for the utmost caution in the vicinity of nuclear installations.
GROUNDED MISSILES
Russian President Vladimir Putin has supported the Kinzhal, an air-launched hypersonic missile with a 500-kilogram warhead. It travels 5 km in a few seconds at 6,500 km/h.According to Kravchenko, Kinzhal missiles fell to the ground during their flights in three different instances, landing about ten kilometres from the Khmelnytskyi nuclear power station.Kravchenko stated that there were no signs in the debris that the missiles had been intercepted, albeit it was unclear why they went down.
In 1986, an explosion at Chornobyl spread radiation across Europe, prompting Soviet authorities to mobilise a large number of people and equipment to deal with the accident's aftermath. In 2000, the plant shut down its final operational reactor.
During the opening weeks of its invasion, Russia seized the Chornobyl facility for over a month while their forces attempted to move on Kyiv, the capital, before retreating.

According to Kravchenko, radars have picked up at least 92 Russian drones that came within five kilometres of the radiation shield of the Chornobyl facility since Russia started launching frequent drone strikes on Ukraine in July 2024.
The containment screen was put in place to stop radioactivity from seeping from Reactor No. 4, which detonated on April 26, 1986, starting a massive fire.
According to Kravchenko, the real number of fly-bys was most likely far greater than 92 because the tracks on Ukraine's military radars can indicate many drones, and occasionally drones don't appear at all.

"Deliberate flights of (drones) with a powerful warhead over a nuclear facility are at least extremely irresponsible and indicate a complete disregard ... for the safety of civilians not only in Ukraine, but throughout Europe," he stated.
"IRREVERSIBLE CORROSION"
The radioactive containment shield at the Chornobyl complex was breached in February of last year by an object that Ukraine recognised as a long-range Russian attack drone.
At the time, the Kremlin denied Russian participation, claiming that Ukraine had likely carried out the attack as a "provocation" and that its forces do not target nuclear equipment.At the time, the Kremlin denied Russian participation, claiming that Ukraine had likely carried out the attack as a "provocation" and that its forces do not target nuclear equipment.
According to estimates from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, repairing the damage will cost at least 500 million euros ($588 million), and in the absence of such work, "irreversible corrosion" of the structure will start in four years.
According to Kravchenko, an investigation by Ukrainian state prosecutors determined that the Russian attack was most likely intentional.According to him, the evaluation was predicated on the drone's impact with the containment shield at a sharp angle. One-way attack drones carrying explosives usually plunge toward their target and accelerate till contact during their terminal phase.

According to Kravchenko, the Russian military was probably utilising Chornobyl as a drone attack path in an attempt to get behind dense Ukrainian air defence coverage.
In order to enhance their effectiveness against Russian assaults, Ukraine, which has few air defences to defend a land mass twice the size of Italy, concentrates them close to inhabited regions and critical infrastructure.
An exclusion zone of contaminated wilderness surrounds the Chornobyl facility, which is located around 100 kilometres from Kyiv and less than 10 km from the Belarusian border.