A drone armed with a warhead hit the protective outer shell of Ukraine's Chernobyl nuclear plant early Friday, punching a hole in the structure and briefly starting a fire, in an attack Kyiv blamed on Russia.

A Russian drone struck the former nuclear power plant at Chernobyl in an attack overnight into Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said.

President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine called the damage “significant” but said there were no signs of radiation leaks. A Kremlin spokesman denied that Russia had carried out the strike.