The Chernobyl power plant has been plunged into darkness following a series of Russian assaults on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, as highlighted by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). This alarming development underscores the escalating tension in the region.
Rafael Grossi, the IAEA Director General, disclosed earlier today that substantial military activities have impacted multiple Ukrainian power substations. This has resulted in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant losing its external power supply, alongside disruptions to power lines serving other nuclear facilities.
“The IAEA is closely monitoring the situation to evaluate the implications for nuclear safety,” Grossi assured, emphasizing the agency’s commitment to maintaining oversight during these critical times.
This unsettling news follows a stark warning from Ukrainian military intelligence, cautioning that continued Russian missile strikes on the nation’s power grid could potentially trigger a catastrophe akin to the infamous Chernobyl disaster.
Ukrainian experts have expressed grave concerns, noting that President Vladimir Putin’s relentless attacks on the power grid, which deprive citizens of electricity and heating amidst harsh winter conditions, could precipitate a significant calamity.
Ukrainian experts say that Vladimir Putin’s ongoing bombardment of Ukraine’s power grid, cutting electricity and heating in freezing temperatures, could trigger a major disaster.
Serhiy Beskrestnov, a Ukrainian expert in electronic warfare, said that the missiles being launched at energy infrastructure are landing in close proximity to nuclear reactors – some just 300 metres away.
If a Russian strike against sucha substation were to miss, it could trigger a disaster, he warned.
Ukraine’s Chernobyl nuclear power plant lost all off-site power, the UN nuclear agency said on Tuesday. Pictured: Chernobyl nuclear power plant, a few weeks after the disaster. Chernobyl, Ukraine, May 1986
The New Safe Confinement at Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant which cover the number 4 reactor unit on May 29, 2022
Residential area on the left bank of Dnipro River during a power outage in Kyiv on January 13, 2026, following Russian missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure
He compared the impact of such an attack to the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, when a catastrophic explosion at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant unleashed huge amounts of radiation, forcing hundreds of thousands of evacuations.
Taking to his Telegram channel on Monday, he said: ‘A miss by an Iskander or a Kinzhal could turn into a second Chernobyl’.
He added that the combination of a Russian strike against such substations, in an attempt to cause a nationwide blackout, as well as their track record for missing targets, made for a very dangerous situation.
‘Russian weapons have hit residential buildings instead of military or industrial sites – including a deadly strike on an apartment building in Ternopil or damage to nearby homes during an attack on Kyiv’s Luch Design Bureau,’ Beskrestnov wrote.
Russia is said to be considering attacks on electricity transmission substations that support the operation of Ukraine’s nuclear power plants, according to a warning from Ukraine’s Military Intelligence (HUR).
The plan is part of a move to pressure Kyiv into accepting what it has described as unacceptable surrender terms, officials stated.
HUR reported that as of mid-January 2026, Russia had already conducted reconnaissance of 10 vital energy sites across nine Ukrainian regions.
Ukraine’s new energy minister, Denys Shmyha, also said last week that Russia had conducted 612 attacks on energy targets over the last year.
A Telegram channel, widely believed to have links to a senior Ukrainian official, added that Russia is currently deciding whether to attack the facilities and how to carry out the hits.
Russia is said to be considering attacks on electricity transmission substations that support the operation of Ukraine’s nuclear power plants, according to a warning from Ukraine’s Military Intelligence (HUR)
A person uses a torch to walk through a non-illuminated street during a power outage in Kyiv on January 19, 2026, following Russian missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine
Moscow’s goal, it added, was to throw Ukraine into power outages for weeks, or even months, with the strikes.
‘The target was never the outage schedules,’ the channel said. ‘The goal is for there to be no electricity at all.’
The bombardment has already intensified in recent months, as nighttime temperatures in the eastern European country plunged to -18C.
Throughout the four-year conflict, Russia has hammered Ukraine’s power grid particularly hard during the colder months in a strategy that has been dubbed ‘weaponising winter’.
Ukrainian officials have introduced emergency measures, including temporarily easing curfew restrictions, allowing people to go to public heating centres set up by the authorities, Shmyhal said.
However, last month, Russia was thrown into complete darkness due to a power outage after Ukraine launched a series of drone strikes on Moscow.
Footage emerged from the Russian capital, showing entire tower blocks without light and dead street lamps due to the widespread blackout.
According to the Russian power company PAO Rosseti, over 100,000 residents of Ramensky, Zhukovsky, and Lytkarino were left without electricity in the dead of winter.
Russia claimed the power outage occurred due to an automatic shutdown at a high-voltage electricity substation, though it was unclear whether this was the cause or if it resulted from a Ukrainian drone strike.
Last month, Russia was thrown into complete darkness due to a power outage after Ukraine launched a series of drone strikes on Moscow
Russia claimed the power outage occurred due to an automatic shutdown at a high-voltage electricity substation, though it was unclear whether this was the cause or if it resulted from a Ukrainian drone strike
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s former press secretary, Iuliia Mendel, said at the time: ‘Total blackout hits Moscow region is reported on social media.
‘Over 600,000 people plunged into darkness for more than four hours — no electricity, no mobile signal, total isolation. Drone threat declared across the oblast right now.’
The strike came in the dead of winter, with images revealing a thick layer of snow covering the frigid Moscow streets.
The reported attacks came just a day after Russia accused Ukraine, without providing evidence, of trying to attack President Vladimir Putin’s residence.
Kyiv dismissed the allegations as baseless and aimed at derailing peace talks in the war that Russia launched against Ukraine nearly four years ago.
