On Friday just prior to high-level meetings among Western security officials and Ukrainian leadership commencing in Munich, including US Vice President J.D. Vance and Zelensky, there was a dangerous incident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine's Kyiv oblast.
Ukraine's President Zelensky accused Russia of launching a drone equipped with a high-explosive warhead at the historic, defunct power plant, site of the April 1986 nuclear disaster and meltdown. The drone reportedly hit the protective containment shell of the Chernobyl plant.
Zelensky's office released footage showing an impact to the giant concrete and steel shield protecting the remains of the nuclear reactor. BBC writes that "The shield is designed to prevent further radioactive material leaking out over the next century. It measures 275m (900ft) wide and 108m (354ft) tall and cost $1.6bn (£1.3bn) to construct."
And WaPo details further of the looming potential dangers:
In 2019, construction was completed on the New Safe Confinement — a $1.7 billion arch-shaped steel structure, which would contain the destroyed reactor. The site still contained some “200 tons of highly radioactive material,” according to the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development, which helped finance the project.
Thus the situation is deeply alarming given the potential for a new radiation leak at the site which could impact the region, or even Europe. An IAEA team on the ground said it heard an explosion at around 01:50 local time coming from the New Safe Confinement (NSC) shelter. Photos showed flames at the top of the huge structure.
The UN agency is on high alert, but issued a statement saying the drone strike did not breach the plant’s inner containment shell. The IAEA also did not attribute blame, not identifying who sent the drone.
The Kremlin strongly rejected that it was behind the incident:
"There is no talk about strikes on nuclear infrastructure, nuclear energy facilities, any such claim isn’t true, our military doesn’t do that," Peskov told reporters in a call.
Russian state media has meanwhile been warning of efforts by bad actors to sabotage Trump's peace plan for Ukraine, after he held a 90-minute phone call with President Vladimir Putin this week.
Serious damage to the protective shield remains, which could present an ongoing serious safety issue at the site:
Simon Evans from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) was head of the Chernobyl Shelter Fund, which oversaw the construction of the protective dome in the 2010s.
He described the apparent strike as "an incredibly reckless attack on a vulnerable nuclear facility".
The shield "was never built to withstand external drone attack", he told the BBC.
Given this, why would Russia at this very moment while Trump and Putin are trying to line up peace talks launch a high-explosive drone at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant?
Cui bono?...
Zelensky has asserted that Putin is not actually ready for or seeking legitimate negotiations, contradicting recent statements coming from the Trump White House.
On Friday, he claimed: "The only country in the world that attacks such sites, occupies nuclear power plants, and wages war without any regard for the consequences is today’s Russia."
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate has in a fresh statement said that while the drone damaged "the external integrity" of the New Safe Confinement "and equipment in the crane maintenance garage" - it remains that there are no observable radiation spikes. "Firefighting efforts and damage assessment are ongoing," it added.
Was this a desperate CHERNOBYL 2.0 ATTEMPT? Whodunnit?
Given that Chernobyl is a name that has captured popular imagination for decades since the apocalyptic historic disaster left the vicinity basically a radiation death zone, it could present the perfect false flag opportunity for anyone wishing to prolong and escalate the war.