A Russian drone attack badly damaged the confinement structure around the disused Chornobyl nuclear power plant intended to prevent the release of nuclear substances, a senior nuclear industry official said on Friday.

For the first time, a Russian projectile directly struck a structure containing a nuclear reactor. Moscow has increasingly been targeting Ukraine's nuclear infrastructure.

Explosions have been heard and a fire ignited after an unmanned drone hit the roof of Chernobyl's radiation containment shell in Ukraine, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.