President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on 29 April that the United States will contribute $100 million toward repairing the protective confinement at the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant, damaged in a Russian drone strike in February 2025. The Ukrainian leader called the move "an important step of support from the United States of America," writing on Telegram.
A targeted strike on the night of 14 February 2025
Zelenskyy described the incident as a deliberate Russian attack on the site. "It was a targeted Russian attack on the Chornobyl station with a drone that is an analog of the Iranian Shahed," he said.
ArmyInform, which also reported the announcement, notes that the confinement covers the destroyed fourth reactor block and serves as a key element of radiation safety.
A €500 million restoration bill
The confinement "was created through the efforts of an international coalition, and now over 500 million euros are needed to restore it," Zelenskyy said. The US contribution covers roughly one-fifth of that figure.
The president framed the pledge as part of an ongoing fundraising drive: "We are working together with partners for this, and every contribution brings us closer to the goal."
Pledge follows Sunday's anniversary conference in Kyiv
The funding announcement came days after the International Chornobyl Conference on Recovery and Nuclear Safety, held on Sunday, 26 April 2026 — the 40th anniversary of the 1986 catastrophe. "On Sunday, on the day of the fortieth anniversary of the Chornobyl catastrophe, we agreed on cooperation with partners during the International Chornobyl Conference on Recovery and Nuclear Safety. Now we have the result," Zelenskyy wrote.
According to ArmyInform, US participation in the financing is one of the first concrete outcomes of the agreements reached at the conference.
Zelenskyy closed his statement with a call for further work and thanks to Washington: "We must restore the full safety of the confinement," he said, adding, "We thank the United States for the support."
