Strikes throughout Ukraine, Russian-occupied territory and Russia killed at the least 16 folks, authorities stated, because the fortieth anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear catastrophe prompted contemporary warnings concerning the dangers posed by assaults close to the plant throughout Russia’s greater than four-year invasion of its neighbor.
The demise 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-about unlawful, and has used it as a staging and provide level through 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 had been killed in an in a single day Ukrainian drone strike on a village, after reporting two folks had been killed within the early hours of Saturday.
Ukraine didn’t touch upon both assault, which couldn’t be independently verified by The Related Press.
Dan Bashakov / AP 
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 Common Employees stated Sunday. The strikes sparked fires on the facility, which processes 15 million tons of oil a yr and produces gasoline, diesel and jet gasoline for the Russian navy. 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 just lately towards Russian oil amenities as Moscow appears to spice up its exports after the Trump administration gave it a short lived waiver from sanctions to ease provide constraints. Kyiv officers complain that Russia will use the extra income on new weapons to hit Ukraine tougher.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy marked the anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear catastrophe to warn that Russian assaults danger repeating historical past.
“By way of its warfare, Russia is as soon as once more bringing the world to the brink of a man-made catastrophe — Russian-Iranian Shaheds often fly over the plant, and certainly one of them struck the confinement final yr,” he wrote on Fb.
“The world should not permit this nuclear terrorism to proceed, and one of the best ways is to drive Russia to cease its reckless assaults,” he stated.
Rafael Grossi, director common of the Worldwide Atomic Power Company, 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 yr has already compromised a key security operate of the construction, he stated, warning that years of inaction might heighten hazard to the unique sarcophagus beneath it. The European Financial institution for Reconstruction and Growth 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 Protected 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.
Russia’s Protection Minister Andrei Belousov visited North Korea on Sunday for talks with North Korean chief Kim Jong Un about future navy cooperation between the international locations.
Belousov stated the international locations agreed to “transition navy cooperation to a sustainable, long-term foundation,” in keeping with Russia state information company Ria Novosti.
Through the go to, he introduced the Russian Order of Braveness to Korean service members who served in Russia’s Kursk area, the place Ukraine launched a shock incursion in August 2024.
Kim has despatched 1000’s of troops and huge weapons shipments to help Russia’s warfare towards Ukraine.
