Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky claimed a Russian drone packed with explosives hit the protective casing around the 4th power unit of Chernobyl nuclear plant

A drone armed with a warhead hit the outer shell of Ukraine’s Chernobyl nuclear plant, briefly starting a fire, in an attack Kyiv blamed on Russia.

The outer shell that was struck is a protective cover built in 2016 over a heavy concrete containment structure. Soon after the 1986 disaster, the inner layer (in which there was no indication of a breach on Friday morning), was placed on the plant’s fourth reactor. The containment shells seek to prevent radiation leaks.

A gaping hole was left in the protective shielding surrounding the Chernobyl nuclear plant after a glider bomb hit it with Russia and Ukraine pointing fingers at each other

A Russian drone struck the former nuclear power plant at Chernobyl in an attack overnight into Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said.

The Chernobyl nuclear power plant, where Ukraine accused Russia of striking a radiation containment structure, is a defunct facility in Ukraine which was the site of the world's worst civil nuclear catastrophe in April 1986.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Friday that a Russian drone had caused significant damage to the radiation containment shelter at the disused Chornobyl nuclear power plant overnight.

The strike set fire to the shelter that contains radiation from the site of the largest nuclear disaster in history, according to Ukrainian officials.