Russia has repeatedly launched missiles and drones along routes near the Chornobyl nuclear power plant, creating a risk of a large-scale nuclear accident. This was stated by Prosecutor General of Ukraine Ruslan Kravchenko in an interview with Reuters, as reported by UNN.
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According to him, since the beginning of the full-scale war, Russian Kinzhal hypersonic missiles have been repeatedly detected near the Chornobyl exclusion zone and the Khmelnytskyi NPP. In total, 35 such incidents have been recorded within approximately 20 kilometers of nuclear facilities.
Such launches cannot be explained by any military considerations. It is obvious that flights over nuclear facilities are carried out exclusively for the purpose of intimidation and terror.
He added that in three separate cases, Kinzhal missiles fell to the ground during flight and landed approximately 10 kilometers from the Khmelnytskyi NPP. The causes of the fall have not been established, but no traces of interception were found on the debris.
Separately, the prosecutor reported that since July 2024, when Russia intensified massive drone attacks, radars have recorded at least 92 drones flying within a five-kilometer radius of the protective sarcophagus of the Chornobyl NPP.
This refers to the arch over the fourth power unit, installed to prevent radiation leakage after the disaster on April 26, 1986.
In February last year, an object identified by Ukraine as a Russian long-range attack drone damaged the protective structure of the Chornobyl NPP. The Kremlin then denied involvement in the attack.
According to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, repairing the damaged sarcophagus will cost at least 500 million euros. Without restoring the structure, irreversible corrosion could begin in four years.
The International Atomic Energy Agency has repeatedly stated earlier about a serious threat to nuclear safety due to hostilities near Ukrainian nuclear power plants.