Particle.news
Download on the App Store

IAEA Warns Chernobyl Containment Has Failed as Massive Strikes Cripple Ukraine’s Power Grid

Ukraine faces weeks of repair work with extended daily blackouts after one of the war’s largest air assaults.

Overview

  • An IAEA assessment found the Chernobyl shelter lost its primary containment functions after a February drone strike and called for urgent comprehensive repairs, enhanced monitoring, and international support.
  • Ukraine reported a large overnight barrage hitting energy sites in eight regions, citing 653 drones and 51 rockets, while a fire damaged the Fastiv rail hub near Kyiv and forced suburban service cancellations.
  • Ukrenergo said grid restoration will take weeks and warned most areas will face 12–16 hours of rolling outages each day, with knock-on losses of water service.
  • Russian regional authorities reported damage from Ukrainian drones in Ryazan and Voronezh with no casualties, and Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov said a drone hit a high-rise in Grozny and vowed retaliation.
  • IAEA experts are in Ukraine from 1–12 December to assess critical substations, and fresh Russian strikes continued into Sunday with attacks reported on the industrial city of Kremenchuk.