Moscow has accused Ukraine of launching dozens of drone attacks across its territory, including one that sparked a fire at a nuclear power plant, as Kyiv marked 34 years since declaring independence from the Soviet Union.
Russian authorities said a drone strike on the Kursk nuclear power plant, about 37 miles (60km) from the Ukrainian border, damaged an auxiliary transformer and forced one reactor to halve its output. The blaze caused by the downed drone was quickly extinguished, with no casualties or rise in radiation levels reported. The International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed that radiation readings near the plant were “normal”. However, it has repeatedly warned of the dangers posed by fighting around nuclear facilities since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022.
Russia’s defence ministry said its forces had intercepted at least 95 Ukrainian drones across more than a dozen regions on Sunday, the anniversary of Ukraine’s independence. Strikes were reported far from the frontline, including near St Petersburg, where a fire broke out at the Ust-Luga port fuel terminal after drone debris ignited the site. Officials in the Leningrad region said around 10 drones were destroyed in the attack.
Ukraine, which has increasingly used drones to target oil and energy infrastructure in Russia, did not immediately comment on the alleged strike on the Kursk facility. Kyiv said Russian forces, in turn, launched a ballistic missile and 72 Iranian-made Shahed drones, 48 of which were shot down. A separate Russian drone strike killed a 47-year-old woman in the Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukrainian officials reported.
Both sides claimed battlefield advances over the weekend in Donetsk, the eastern region that has become central to the ongoing conflict and discussions of peace. Russia said it had captured two villages on Saturday, while Ukraine’s commander-in-chief, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said his forces had retaken three others.
Speaking at a ceremony in Kyiv to mark the independence anniversary, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine had secured its sovereignty despite the ongoing war. “This is how Ukraine strikes when its calls for peace are ignored,” he said. “Today, both the US and Europe agree: Ukraine has not yet fully won, but it will certainly not lose. Ukraine has secured its independence. Ukraine is not a victim; it is a fighter.”
