Vladimir Putin has been accused of playing “ nuclear roulette” after the UN’s atomic watchdog confirmed that the giant steel arch containing Chernobyl ’s radioactive ruins has lost its primary safety functions following a Russian drone strike. The New Safe Confinement (NSC) – the £2 billion structure completed in 2019 to isolate the wreckage of Reactor 4 for at least 100 years – was heavily damaged on February 14, 2025, when a drone struck its roof, igniting a fire and tearing a large hole through the outer cladding.

Last week, an IAEA inspection team concluded the arch has lost its confinement capability. Load-bearing structures and radiation-monitoring systems remain intact, however, and no rise in radiation levels has been detected. IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi told the a

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