Horror as Russian attack drone hits Chernobyl nuke power plant & damages containment shell as Zelensky slams ‘terrorism’

A RUSSIAN drone has slammed into the Chernobyl power plant and exploded in a horror attack on the nuclear disaster zone.

The craft carrying a "high-explosive warhead" hit the containment dome of Reactor Four - the power plant which failed in the 1986 Soviet disaster.

Nighttime view of an explosion at an industrial site.
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A Russian drone hit the side of Chernobyl's containment doneCredit: X/ZelenskyyUa
Nighttime security footage of an explosion at an industrial plant.
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Zelensky slammed Russia as a 'terrorist threat'Credit: X/ZelenskyyUa
Smoke rising from the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant.
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The containment dome had 'significant' damage following the strikeCredit: X/ZelenskyyUa

Chernobyl was the worst nuclear disaster in history and a sarcophagus was built over the top of the reactor to stop the deadly fallout spreading through the wind.

Footage showed a thunderous explosion erupting from the dome and a fire catching in the structure.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky posted a clip of the explosion and resulting damage from the strike.

He slammed Russia as a "terrorist threat to the entire world".

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Zelensky said: "This shelter was built by Ukraine together with other countries of Europe and the world, together with America – all those committed to real security for humanity.

"The only country in the world that attacks such sites, occupies nuclear power plants, and wages war without any regard for the consequences is today’s Russia."

Russia occupied the site of Chernobyl earlier in the war, but then retreated.

It also seized Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in the south of Ukraine in 2022 in what was a dangerous attack that threatened another nuclear disaster.

The President confirmed radiation levels had not increased but with "significant" damage to the shelter authorities were continuing to monitor the situation.

The International Atomic Energy Agency also said no radiation had been measured but they were continuing to monitor the situation.

Inside Ukraine’s recaptured Chernobyl exclusion zone with radioactive trenches that ‘struck down dozens of Russians’

Russian Telegram channels claimed the strike was likely a Ukrainian stunt to derail peace talks which gave the advantage to Vladimir Putin. 

One reported it was “looking like a Ukrainian attempt to pull apart peace deal negotiations”.

Damage inside the Chernobyl nuclear power plant's fourth reactor unit.
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A whole now sits in the dome of the sarcophagusCredit: East2West
Aerial view of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant weeks after the 1986 disaster.
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Chernobyl, in Ukraine, is the worst disaster in human historyCredit: Getty

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