At least 16 lifeless in strikes as Chernobyl anniversary highlights nuclear dangers of Russia-Ukraine warfare | EUROtoday

At least 16 folks have been killed in strikes over the weekend throughout Ukraine, Russian-occupied territory and Russia, native authorities stated, because the fortieth anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear catastrophe prompted recent warnings concerning the dangers posed by assaults close to the plant throughout Russia’s greater than four-year invasion of its neighbor.

The dying toll from Russian drone and missile strikes on town of Dnipro rose to 9, regional head Oleksandr Hanzha stated Sunday.

One man was killed in a Ukrainian drone strike on the port metropolis of Sevastopol, In Russian-occupied Crimea, Moscow-installed authorities stated Sunday. Russia annexed the peninsula from Ukraine in 2014, a transfer that many of the world thought of unlawful, and has used it as a staging and provide level throughout the warfare.

Leonid Pasechnik, the Russia-installed governor in Ukraine’s Luhansk area — of which Russia earlier this month stated it had taken full management, a declare denied by Ukraine — stated three folks have been killed in an in a single day Ukrainian drone strike on a village, after reporting two folks have been killed within the early hours of Saturday.

The newest strikes got here after a girl was killed in a Ukrainian drone assault on Russia’s Belgorod border area, in keeping with native authorities.

Ukrainian forces additionally struck an oil refinery in Yaroslavl, deep inside Russian territory, Ukraine’s General Staff stated Sunday. The strikes sparked fires on the facility, which processes 15 million tons of oil a 12 months and produces gasoline, diesel and jet gasoline for the Russian army. Russia didn’t instantly remark.

Ukraine has developed its personal long-range drones, which might attain targets some 1,500 kilometers (900 miles) inside Russia. It has used them lately in opposition to Russian oil amenities as Moscow appears to spice up its exports after the Trump administration gave it a brief waiver from sanctions to ease provide constraints. Kyiv officers complain that Russia will use the extra income on new weapons to hit Ukraine more durable.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy marked the anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear catastrophe to warn that Russian assaults danger repeating historical past.

“Through its war, Russia is once again bringing the world to the brink of a man-made disaster — Russian-Iranian Shaheds regularly fly over the plant, and one of them struck the confinement last year,” he wrote on Facebook.

“The world must not allow this nuclear terrorism to continue, and the best way is to force Russia to stop its reckless attacks,” he stated.

Rafael Grossi, director common of the International Atomic Energy Agency, echoed these issues throughout a go to to Kyiv, saying repairs to the plant’s broken outer protecting shell should start instantly. IAEA assessments present the harm sustained after a strike final 12 months has already compromised a key security perform of the construction, he stated, warning that years of inaction may heighten hazard to the unique sarcophagus beneath it. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development stated repairs would require at the least 500 million euros ($586 million).

Ukrainian officers say a Russian drone struck the outer shell of the plant’s New Safe Confinement construction — a $2.1 billion archlike enclosure accomplished in 2019 over the stays of Reactor No. 4 — in February 2025. Moscow denied focusing on the plant, alleging Kyiv staged the assault.