National Guard units with combat experience are protecting the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (NPP) around the clock, and the drone component is being constantly built up, National Guard of Ukraine (NGU) Commander Major General Oleksandr Pivnenko has said.
"Our units are there 24/7. And these are no longer the units that were there at the beginning of the war – now there are people with combat experience there," Pivnenko said in an exclusive interview with the Interfax-Ukraine agency, speaking about the protection of the Chernobyl NPP.
The NGU commander emphasized: "There is a unit from the Azov corps, combat commanders, and a drone component that is constantly being built up."
Pivnenko added that he personally visits the Chernobyl NPP on a regular basis. "I do not want us to lose sight of anything there. So we are building up and building up," he stressed.
Speaking generally about the protection of critical infrastructure facilities and, in particular, the "work on mistakes" that has been done, the NGU commander remarked: "Many serious protective structures are being built, believe me. For our part, where necessary, we deploy interceptors, anti-aircraft missile systems, and increase radio-electronic intelligence."
"This is a large-scale task at the state level," he added.
In April 2026, Ukrainian Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko stated in an interview with Reuters that a Russian drone attack on the confinement of the 4th power block of the Chernobyl NPP in 2025 was likely intentional, as evidenced by expert examinations establishing the circumstances of the enemy UAV strike.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted that about EUR 500 million is needed for the capital repair of the Chernobyl NPP sarcophagus, which was damaged as a result of the Russian UAV attack.
At the end of April this year, the United States announced the allocation of $100 million for the repair of the Chernobyl NPP confinement. In addition, within the framework of the International Chernobyl Conference on Recovery and Nuclear Safety, an agreement was signed with the EBRD for EUR 30 million for the first stage of confinement restoration, and partners took on initial commitments amounting to almost EUR 100 million.
In June 2026, Norway announced an additional contribution of NOK 100 million (about $10 million) for the restoration of the protective New Safe Confinement (NSC) of the Chernobyl NPP, which was damaged as a result of a Russian drone attack.
