Chernobyl struck in drone attack as Zelensky pushes plan to ‘stop Putin’ before US-Russia peace talks
Russia has launched a terrifying attack on the cover of Chernobyl which was built to contain radiation following the world’s worst nuclear explosion in 1986.
Russia struck a cover built to contain radiation at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in a drone attack overnight, according to
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.
The leader said on Friday that the attack had not caused any radiation levels to increase.
The Ukrainian air force said Russia launched more than 100 drones across the country overnight targeting northern regions in Ukraine where the Chernobyl power plant is.
“Last night, a Russian attack drone with a high-explosive warhead struck the cover protecting the world from radiation at the destroyed 4th power unit of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant,” Zelensky said.
The International Atomic Energy Agency also reported an “explosion” at the site, and said “radiation levels inside and outside remain normal and stable.”
A reactor at Chernobyl exploded during a botched safety test in 1986, resulting in the world’s worst nuclear accident that sent clouds of radiation across much of Europe and forced tens of thousands of people to evacuate.
Russia is yet to comment on the incident.
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ZELENSKY WANTS PLAN TO ‘STOP PUTIN’ BEFORE PEACE TALKS
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the United States should agree on a joint plan to stop Russia before talks with Moscow, as European leaders warned Washington not to hatch a deal behind their backs.
Meeting NATO partners the day after US President Donald Trump revealed he plans to start peace talks with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth denied it meant a betrayal of Kyiv’s three-year war effort.
But Mr Trump’s move stunned Ukraine and European allies — several of whom openly called his strategy into question.
Mr Zelenskyy said it was “not very pleasant” that Mr Trump had called Mr Putin first before speaking to him, adding the US president had said he wanted to speak to both leaders together.
The Ukrainian leader — who is set to meet US Vice President JD Vance in Munich on Friday local time — said he wanted to hammer out a “plan to stop Putin” with the United States before any talks happen.
After a 90-minute phone call with Mr Putin on Wednesday, Mr Trump’s first since returning to power, the US president said he expected to meet the Russian leader in Saudi Arabia for Ukraine peace talks — sparking fears Kyiv would be frozen out.
The Kremlin said Mr Putin and Mr Trump had agreed the “time has come to work together”, insisting it wanted to organise a face-to-face meeting promptly and that broader European security should be on the agenda.
Mr Trump’s outreach to Mr Putin had been broadly expected, but the quick pace of his peace push has left heads spinning after three years of staunch Western support for Kyiv.
Kyiv’s European backers are terrified that Mr Trump could force Ukraine into a bad peace deal that will leave them facing an emboldened Mr Putin — while fronting the lion’s share of costs for post-war security.
Mr Hegseth said Europe must now start providing the “overwhelming share” of aid to Ukraine and that the United States would not deploy troops as a security guarantee under any deal.
Throughout Russia’s war on Ukraine since 2022 it has been a mantra for Western powers that there should be no decisions taken on Ukraine’s future without Kyiv.
NATO chief Mark Rutte said it was crucial that Kyiv was “closely involved” in any talks about what happens in Ukraine.
Britain’s defence minister John Healey echoed that message.
“There can be no negotiation about Ukraine without Ukraine, and Ukraine’s voice must be at the heart of any talks,” he said.
Russia’s ally China meanwhile said it was “happy” to see the United States and Russia “strengthen communication”.
TRUMP, PUTIN TO MEET FOR UKRAINE PEACE TALKS
Negotiations to end the war in Ukraine are set to begin after Donald Trump spoke to Vladimir Putin, ending the diplomatic deep-freeze of the Russian President that was sparked by his illegal invasion three years ago.
But while Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the push for peace, the US President also backed away from America’s commitment to a pathway for Ukraine to join the NATO military alliance, leaving his Ukrainian ally lacking crucial leverage ahead of the talks.
A day after Russia and the US agreed on a prisoner swap, Mr Trump said the leaders also agreed to visit each other’s countries, potentially after an imminent meeting in Saudi Arabia.
“We both agreed, we want to stop the millions of deaths taking place in the War with Russia/Ukraine,” the US President said in a statement on his Truth Social website.
“President Putin even used my very strong Campaign motto of, ‘COMMON SENSE’. We both believe very strongly in it. We agreed to work together, very closely … I believe this effort will lead to a successful conclusion, hopefully soon!”
After the 90-minute call, Mr Trump also spoke to Mr Zelenskyy, who said he appreciated his “genuine interest in our shared opportunities and how we can bring about real peace”.
Mr Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Russian President agreed “a long-term settlement could be reached through peace negotiations” but that any deal would need to “address the root causes of the conflict”, suggesting he wanted sweeping concessions.
A day earlier, Mr Zelenskyy had suggested Russian-held territory in Ukraine could be traded for territory which his forces had seized in Russia’s Kursk region. Mr Peskov immediately rejected this, saying Russia would “not discuss the topic of exchanging its territory”.
In a meeting with NATO leaders, Mr Trump’s Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth declared it was an “unrealistic objective” for Ukraine to return to its borders before Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014. Mr Trump, speaking in the Oval Office after his call with Mr Putin, similarly said that was an “unlikely” ambition but that “some of it will come back”.
The Trump administration also shot down Ukraine’s hopes of joining NATO, with Mr Hegseth saying that was not “a realistic outcome” and Mr Trump adding it was not “practical” and that he was “okay with that”.
Biden administration national security official Alexander Vindman blasted that policy reversal as a “complete capitulation” to Russia and a “major blow to US national security”.
Mr Hegseth called for a post-war security guarantee to be “backed by capable European and non-European troops”, ruling out the deployment of US soldiers. This rebuffed Mr Zelenskyy, who warned that “security guarantees without America are not real security guarantees”.
TRUMP SWAPS RUSSIAN CRYPTO KING FOR US TEACHER
US President Donald Trump has swapped Russian prisoner Alexander Vinnik, which secured the release of American teacher Marc Fogel, an administration official has confirmed.
Vinnik was arrested in 2017 in Greece and extradited to France and the US to face charges of fraud and money laundering.
For six years prior to Vinnik’s arrest, he had been in charge of the BTC-e cryptocurrency exchange — which funnelled more than A$15 billion worth of transactions.
In December 2020, Vinnik was convicted by a French court of money laundering and sentenced to five years in prison. In May 2024, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering before a San Francisco federal judge.
Vinnik had not registered BTC-e in the US as a money services business, despite having several customers in America, and the US Department of Justice had said his case showed just how far the department could reach to thwart cybercrime around the world.
The US government has hailed the prisoner exchange as a positive sign for diplomacy between the two countries and for possible negotiations over an end to the Ukraine war.
“President Trump, Steve Witkoff and the President’s advisers negotiated an exchange that serves as a show of good faith from the Russians and a sign we are moving in the right direction to end the brutal and terrible war in Ukraine,” US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz said in a statement.
Vinnik was extradited to the United States from Greece in August 2022, hours after he had been released from a French jail.
Fogel returned to the US on Tuesday night local time after being held captive in Russia for three and a half years on marijuana charges.
Steve Witkoff, Trump’s Middle East envoy, told reporters at the White House on Wednesday he got a call the previous day that Mr Fogel had been released by Russia and was instructed by Mr Trump to get him back to the US.
“I would say that without President Trump’s election, none of this would’ve happened,” Witkoff said of the exchange, noting that the agreement “came together” in the last few days.
The envoy also said Saudi Arabia was involved in finalising the swap.
Mr Trump personally met Mr Fogel at the White House after his return to the US and gave him a tour of the Lincoln Bedroom.
Mr Trump, standing alongside Mr Fogel in the White House, said: “To me he looks damned good.”
Mr Fogel kissed the ground after disembarking from his plane and stepping on American soil.
“I want you to know that I am not a hero in this at all. And President Trump is a hero,” he said.
Mr Trump has indicated another American is set to be released as soon as early Thursday AEDT without providing their identity. Several Americans are still detained in Russia, including 72-year-old Stephen Hubbard, who was accused of fighting the Russian army with Ukrainian mercenaries.
WELCOME HOME, MARC!🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/0b2Igcqudp
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 12, 2025
RUSSIA RELEASES JAILED AMERICAN TEACHER
US President Donald Trump says he hopes the release of jailed American teacher Marc Fogel by Russia could mark the start of fresh ties with Moscow to end the Ukraine war.
“We were treated very nicely by Russia,” Mr Trump told reporters in the Oval Office of the White House.
“Actually, I hope that’s the beginning of a relationship where we can end that war.”
The White House earlier said Mr Trump secured the release of Mr Fogel, a Pennsylvania schoolteacher jailed since 2021 on drug charges, as part of an “exchange,” without offering further details.
Mr Fogel was arrested in 2021 at a Moscow airport after Russian officials found marijuana in his luggage and he was given a 14-year prison sentence after being convicted of drug smuggling.
His family said he was travelling with medically prescribed marijuana.
Steve Witkoff, a property developer and friend of Mr Trump who serves as his Middle East envoy, held talks and was “leaving Russian airspace” with Mr Fogel, the White House said.
The US envoy in charge of hostages, Adam Boehler, later posted a picture of Mr Fogel that appeared to show him savouring a stiff drink on a jet home, his other hand clasping both his passport and a plate of food.
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Originally published as Chernobyl struck in drone attack as Zelensky pushes plan to ‘stop Putin’ before US-Russia peace talks