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Ukraine Launches War Crimes Probe After Drone Hits Chornobyl Fuel Site

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The Security Service of Ukraine has officially opened a formal war crimes investigation after a drone hit the Centralized Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage Facility near the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant on Sunday, Ukraine's state nuclear operator Energoatom confirmed via its Telegram channel.

According to field evidence collected by the SBU investigative group, the drone blast triggered a 40-square-meter blaze, causing structural damage to the primary facility building designated for the receiving and reloading of spent nuclear fuel, as well as an administrative structure utilized by International Atomic Energy Agency experts on-site.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy strongly condemned the strike on X, labeling the operation a "deliberate and extremely vile" hit on an extraordinarily critical infrastructure node.

"As of now, there are no readings exceeding normal background radiation levels. But there is certainly an increase in Russia's brazenness, which long ago went off the charts," he added.

While state utility emergency responders quickly contained the fire, the incident underscores the intense baseline risk hovering over Eastern European power assets.

Simultaneously, grid networks remain volatile near the frontline at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.

A localized temporary ceasefire brokered by the International Atomic Energy Agency was declared on Friday to allow critical repairs on the damaged Ferrosplavnaya-1 backup power line following a grueling 15-hour total blackout.

While ZNPP management reportedly confirmed the line was successfully restored to ensure necessary cooling functions for its non-generating reactors, the structural truce immediately fractured.

Within hours of the repair work, Russian state entity Rosatom publicly accused Ukrainian forces of violating the local ceasefire with a retaliatory drone strike that reportedly injured three workers, a claim that Kyiv authorities promptly denied, Reuters reported.

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Commodities

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