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.

The outer shell that was struck is a protective cover built in 2016 over a heavy concrete containment structure. Soon after the 1986 disaster, the inner layer (in which there was no indication of a breach on Friday morning), was placed on the plant’s fourth reactor. The containment shells seek to prevent radiation leaks.

Ukraine’s nuclear ghosts have been stirred up again after a drone armed with a warhead hit the protective outer shell of the plant at Chernobyl, the site of the world’s worst nuclear accident.

Ukrainian President said a Russian drone with a high-explosive warhead hit the protective confinement shell of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant.

The attack on the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the Kyiv region sends a warning to the entire world, as the safety of nuclear facilities is of paramount importance to ensure radiation doesn't take place.

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