Russia faces accountability push over Chornobyl shelter strike, EU official warns
European Commissioner for Economy and Productivity Valdis Dombrovskis said Russia will be held accountable for the attack on the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant. (Photo: REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz)
Russia will face accountability for the strike on the
shelter at the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant, European Commissioner for Economy
and Productivity Valdis Dombrovskis said, Ukrinform
reported.
Speaking at the International Chornobyl Conference on
Recovery and Nuclear Safety on April 26, Dombrovskis said the shelter urgently
needs repairs and that the EU will help with the effort.
“Make no mistake: Russia will be held accountable, but
waiting is not an option,” Dombrovskis said, warning that Russia’s attack on
the shelter risks catastrophic consequences for the entire continent.
Dombrovskis said the EU has allocated more than EUR 1
billion for nuclear safety in Ukraine since 1991, including funding that
covered more than a quarter of the cost of building Chornobyl’s new safe
confinement structure.
First Deputy Prime Minister and Energy Minister Denys
Shmyhal said on April 26 that Ukraine had signed an agreement with partners to
open a special account to restore the new safe confinement structure at
Chornobyl.
A Russian drone carrying a high-explosive warhead damaged
the roof of the sarcophagus protecting Chornobyl’s destroyed fourth reactor
overnight on Feb. 14, 2025. A fire broke out at the site.
Serhii Tarakanov, director general of the Chornobyl Nuclear
Power Plant state-owned specialized enterprise, said the arch of the new safe
confinement structure lost its full airtight seal after the Russian drone
strike. However, the protective shell continues to perform part of its key
function — isolating the destroyed reactor unit from the environment.
Greenpeace Ukraine representatives earlier said that without
urgent repairs to the new safe confinement structure, the risk of the
sarcophagus collapsing would rise significantly, while repair work is “nearly
impossible during wartime.”
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