Aug 18, 2025
A terrorist attack case involving an encroachment on nuclear energy facilities was opened after the Ukrainian armed forces attempted to attack the Smolensk nuclear facility, Russian Investigative Committee spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko told Sputnik.
On Sunday, the Russian Defense Ministry said that anti-drone systems have intercepted an attempted drone attack by the Ukrainian armed forces on the Smolensk nuclear power plant in Russia’s Smolensk Region.
“A criminal case has been opened regarding an act of terrorism involving the encroachment on atomic energy facilities (paragraph ‘a’ of part 3 of Article 205 of the Russian Criminal Code) in connection with an attempted attack by Ukraine’s armed formations on a nuclear power facility in the city of Desnogorsk, in the Smolensk Region, on August 17,” Petrenko said.
The investigation is establishing the Ukrainian military’s involvement in the attack, the spokeswoman added.
Two days after Ukrainian armed forces attacked the Astrakhan, Voronezh, and Nizhny Novgorod regions, authorities opened a case into a terrorist attack carried out by a group of individuals, the attack had serious consequences.
Kiev’s attacks on or near Russian peaceful nuclear facilities pose extreme danger and risks to nuclear and radiation safety, Rosatom, the Russian state nuclear corporation, said on Monday.
“The irresponsible attacks by the Ukrainian side on or near peaceful nuclear facilities in Russia pose an extreme danger and pose risks to nuclear and radiation safety,” Rosatom said.
The Ukrainian drone, which was intercepted over the Smolensk nuclear power plant, detonated as it fell, damaging the windows of the building housing the third power unit, Rosatom reported. There were no casualties.
“The incident did not affect the operation of the plant — all three power units are currently in operation at the Smolensk Nuclear Power Plant… The radiation level at the industrial site of the Smolensk nuclear station and the surrounding area has not changed and is in line with natural values,” the statement said.
Rosatom has condemned the Ukrainian military’s actions as irresponsible and entirely unacceptable.
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