Is it a new obstacle to future negotiations. The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia this Friday, February 14, of having damaged with an explosive drone, the accident nuclear power plant of Chernobyl, without an increase in radiation be noted. The head of state, joined on this point by the head of European diplomacy Kaja Kallas, saw it as proof that according to him the Russian president Vladimir Putin “does not want peace”.
The incident comes in full diplomatic effervescence around the war in Ukraine. President Donald Trump broke the status quo and isolation by the West of Vladimir Putin by calling him on Wednesday and proclaiming the start of peace negotiations, an initiative that raises fears of Ukraine by Washington or At least a weakening of its position. Back on the course of the night.
What happened
“Last night, a Russian attack drone equipped with a highly explosive warhead struck the enclosure protecting the world’s radiation world n ° 4 from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant,” said Volodymyr Zelensky on X, indicating that ‘A fire had been “extinguished” and that “the level of radiation has not increased”. The International Atomic Energy Agency (AIEA) said on X that its team on site had heard “an explosion from the containment ark” and have been informed that it was a drone. Surveillance efforts are continuing to assess potential risks.
The metallic structure affected, inaugurated in 2019, covered the reactor which exploded in April 1986 during the worst nuclear accident in history, and protects a first sarcophagus built by the Soviets and the radioactive debris found there. The explosion took place around 01:50 am on Friday, according to the AIEA. Accusing Moscow of being “a terrorist threat to the whole world”, Volodymyr Zelensky broadcast images of the site, including a video of the explosion and the fire. The deflagration on these images took place at 02 h 02.
In one of the photos, there is a hole in the large metallic structure and traces of soot. Images taken in the attic of the structure show torn sheets and damaged equipment. Ukrainian authorities have indicated that they were going to inform the United States of the details of this attack at the Munich on security conference.
The ark, installed in 2016 then officially commissioned in 2019 after years of work funded by the international community, covers the original sarcophagus built to cover the rugged reactor and its debris. “The whole world has invested in (L’Arche), and today, these Russian idiots have launched a drone against the refuge,” prevailed on Telegram the head of the Ukrainian presidential administration, Andriï Iermak.
“Russia shows that it does not want peace”
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov, without formally denying this attack, assured that the Russian army did not target nuclear installations. “I do not have specific information. What I know is that there can be no question of strike against such or such nuclear infrastructure […] The Russian soldiers do not do this, “he said. Since Munich, Volodymyr Zelensky told him that this attack was” a very clear salvation “by Vladimir Putin. According to the Ukrainian leader, his Russian counterpart” does not want Peace “.” When a person wants to have a dialogue and put an end to war, they do not do that, “he said.
The head of European diplomacy Kaja Kallas did the same analysis when they arrived at the Munich security conference. “War continues today, we have seen that Russia bombes the nuclear power plant, which clearly shows that it does not want peace,” she said to the press, judging that Europeans “must Stay firm and achieve what is at stake. “
Russia occupied, at the start of its invasion three years ago, the central site with troops from neighboring Belarus, nourishing fears of radioactive leaks or a new accident. Russian troops withdrew in late March 2022, when Russia was forced to retire from northern Ukraine after the failure of its assault against the Ukrainian capital, which is less than a hundred kilometers to Bird flight from the power station.
In March 2022, Russia also took by force the Zaporijia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe, in the south of Ukraine, also arousing the fear of an accident. Since then, Russians and Ukrainians have regularly accused of endangering the site of Zaporijia, under Russian occupation, and of making the risk of a nuclear disaster run.