Ukraine has repeatedly warned since Russia invaded that attacks and fighting near its nuclear power plants risk triggering a potential catastrophe.
The Kremlin rejected that its military targets Ukrainian nuclear sites, while the European Union said the attack was "reckless" and showed Russia was "not looking for peace".
"Last night, a Russian attack drone with a high-explosive warhead struck the cover protecting the world from radiation at the destroyed 4th reactor of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a social media post.
He said it was evidence that "Putin is definitely not preparing for negotiations -- he is preparing to continue deceiving the world".
CCTV footage posted by the Ukrainian leader showed a blast on the side of the Chernobyl structure, timestamped 2:02 am (0002 GMT).
AFP was shown the shattered fragments of the drone, laid out in the snow. Among them were jagged pieces of metal and what appeared to be an electronic component.
The drone pierced the outer shell and "there was an explosion inside", the plant's chief engineer Oleksandr Titarchuk told reporters, without detailing the extent of the damage.
He said the consequences "could have been much worse and more disastrous".
The Kremlin called the incident a "provocation" staged by Kyiv.
- Kremlin denial -
"There is no question of any strikes on such nuclear infrastructure sites," Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
"Any claims that this was the case do not correspond to reality. The Russian military does not do this," he said, after stating that he did not have "exact information" about the reported hit on Chernobyl.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas meanwhile said the strike "clearly shows" the Russians "don't want peace".
Poland's Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said the attack "strengthens the argument for improving Ukraine's air defences in our own self-interest".
"In 1986 the radioactive cloud endangered all Europe and beyond," he added.
In 1986, a reactor at Chernobyl exploded during a botched safety test, resulting in the world's worst nuclear accident, which sent clouds of radiation across much of Europe and forced tens of thousands of people to evacuate.
Zelensky said the drone had flown at an altitude of 85 metres (280 feet), too low to be detected by radar.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) also reported an "explosion" at the site, and said "radiation levels inside and outside remain normal and stable".
The agency, which has had a team deployed at Chernobyl since the early stages of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, published images showing a drone on fire after crashing into the covering.
The IAEA has warned of the dangers of fighting around nuclear plants following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
In the first days of the conflict, Russian forces briefly seized the Chernobyl plant and also captured the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in southern Ukraine, which they still control.
- 'Outrageous' attack -
Soviet authorities initially tried to cover up and then play down the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.
In November 2016, a massive metal dome was erected over the remains of the reactor -- paid for with 2.1 billion euros ($2.5 billion) in international funding -- to stop future leaks.
Shaun Burnie, a nuclear specialist at Greenpeace Ukraine, said the shelter is "not just a roof but a massive, sophisticated machine designed specifically to prevent the release of radioactivity into the environment".
The environmental group called it an "outrageous" attack that showed Russia was "escalating its war against Ukraine to a new level".
"The only country in the world that attacks such sites, occupies nuclear power plants, and wages war without any regard for the consequences is today's Russia," Zelensky added in his statement.
The Ukrainian energy ministry meanwhile "called on the IAEA to intensify efforts to prevent hostile attacks on nuclear facilities".
The apparent attack came ahead of highly anticipated meetings at the Munich Security Conference on Friday, in which Zelensky sat down with US Vice President JD Vance.
On Wednesday, Trump stunned Kyiv and European allies by holding a lengthy telephone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin and announcing the two leaders had agreed to soon start Ukraine peace talks.
An adviser to Zelensky's chief of staff said the Ukrainian delegation would be putting the Chernobyl attack on the agenda with the United States and Ukraine's allies.
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