Russia calls Zelenskiy accusation over Chornobyl plant stage-managed 'nuclear blackmail'

Russia said on Friday that an accusation from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that a Russian drone had struck the Chornobyl nuclear power plant was a staged "provocation" by Kyiv to blackmail the West into giving it more aid.

Zelenskiy said on Friday that a Russian drone had caused significant damage to the radiation containment shelter at the plant, but that radiation levels remained normal after the incident, which came as top U.S., Ukrainian and European officials gathered at the Munich Security Conference to discuss the war in Ukraine.

Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, accused Zelenskiy of orchestrating the alleged drone attack to coincide with the Munich event as part of a lobbying effort to secure more weapons and money from the West.

"There was never any doubt that Zelenskiy would not come to the Munich conference empty-handed... The hands of the Kyiv regime must always be busy with some children's rattles to distract the attention of the conference participants. Zelenskiy travels with performances that are backed up by provocations," Zakharova told a news briefing in Moscow.

"Is there any doubt in anyone's mind that this is a provocation? There can be no doubt. A performance was needed to lobby for arms deliveries and convince the world public. A scary, bloody and very dangerous performance," she said, accusing Kyiv of using nuclear plants for "blackmail."