Zelenskyy Meets UK, French and German Leaders in London as Russian Drone Hits Chernobyl-Area Site and Ukraine Strikes Russian Oil and Fuel Targets

Volodymyr Zelenskyy met Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz at Downing Street on Sunday night. The leaders discussed ongoing support for Ukraine and cooperation on air defence. Hours before the meeting, a Russian drone struck and damaged a storage centre for spent nuclear fuel nine miles from the Chornobyl nuclear power plant.

Zelenskyy called the strike “extremely vile” and stated that the drone used was an Iranian-designed Shahed attack drone. Zelenskyy said the attack did not lead to a spike in radiation and that a fire in the building was quickly extinguished. The International Atomic Energy Agency said large amounts of nuclear fuel were stored a few metres away from the damaged site.

The UK and France are leading a “coalition of the willing” initiative to provide security guarantees for Ukraine as part of a peace process. Before the meeting, Zelenskyy vowed that Ukraine would not “silently die” and told Sky News: “We will respond. ” He thanked the UK and other allies for helping strengthen the protection of life and increase pressure on Russia.

The meeting followed a series of Ukrainian strikes on targets inside Russia. Long-range Ukrainian drones hit an oil terminal and a nearby naval port in St Petersburg last week, with the attacks beginning hours before the city’s international economic forum. On Saturday, Ukraine struck St Petersburg again, reportedly targeting an ammunition dump and oil terminal in nearby Kronstadt.

Alexander Beglov said three people sustained minor injuries and told residents to stay indoors. Ukraine’s special operations forces struck fuel storage facilities in the towns of Lenine and Fedosia in occupied Crimea. Ukrainian drones also knocked out a bridge connecting occupied Crimea with the Chonhar crossing point, which connects to a key supply road shut last week after repeated strikes on lorries and tankers.