Cleanup of Russian drone strike consequences at Chornobyl NPP enters fifth day – Ukraine’s environment ministry

As of the morning of February 18, rescuers at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant are still continuing to eliminate the consequences of a Russian drone hitting the sarcophagus.

The Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine reported that on Telegram.

As the department said, as of 07:00 a.m. on Tuesday, the radiation situation is under constant control. Fluctuations in current values ​​​​are within the usual limits for each point.

According to the results of the inspection of the arch, it became clear that the drone attack damaged the outer skin.

In addition, through-the-wall destruction was inflicted on an area of ​​​​up to 15 square meters. Specialists found defects in the skin and damage to the internal filler of the skin. There are destructions of bolted joints.

The joints of the upper part of the maintenance garage's supporting structures are deformed.

It was previously reported that monitoring of the outer skin of the Arch of the New Safe Confinement is ongoing – this is a large arch-shaped shelter that:

• covers the old sarcophagus of the destroyed fourth power unit of the Chornobyl NPP,
• restrains the spread of radioactive substances outward.

Note that radiation background data throughout the country can be checked on the Ministry of Environment's official resource, "Ecozagroza," or via the SaveDnipro platform or the SaveEcoBot website.

For reference:

On the night of February 14, a Russian strike drone with a high-explosive warhead hit the sarcophagus that protects the world from radiation from the destroyed fourth power unit of the Chornobyl nuclear power plant.

According to Volodymyr Zelensky, the drone strike targeted the sarcophagus of the Chornobyl NPP, which he described as "the most dangerous object in Europe" and which was originally built with the support of 40 countries.

"For maximum fire damage, this strike drone was equipped with a high-explosive warhead. According to experts, the Russians targeted this facility. As a result of the hit, the shelter structure was damaged," Ukraine's Security Service noted.

As of February 15, emergency responders managed to localize the fire in the filler of the outer shell of the shelter over the fourth reactor of the Chornobyl NPP.

According to existing agreements, Ukrainian air defense forces do not shoot down enemy UAVs over nuclear facilities. Thus, as experts note, this was a deliberate crime by the Russian invaders.