Drone strikes Chornobyl waste building

A Russian drone struck and significantly damaged a radioactive waste storage building (pictured before damage) at the closed Chornobyl nuclear power plant site on Sunday, close to where “large amounts of nuclear material” are stored, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. Ukraine accused Russia of using a Shahed drone, the same kind that in February 2025 blew a hole in the roof of the Chornobyl containment dome covering the destroyed Unit 2, a year into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The damaged dome shields highly radioactive material resulting from the April 26, 1986 explosion and catastrophic meltdown. These two near-misses serve as a stark reminder of the disaster nuclear power plants are capable of unleashing at any time, risks only exacerbated by war. (Headline photo shows the Chornobyl radioactive waste storage building. The blue section of the building at left was heavily damaged by the May 31, 2026 Russian drone strike. Photo courtesty of Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0)

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