Emergency personnel watch as people inspect the damage to the radiation containment shield of Reactor No. 4 at the Chernobyl site following a February 14 drone strike in Chernobyl, Ukraine. Andrew Kravchenko/Bloomberg/Getty Images

The protective shield built around the Chernobyl nuclear disaster site in Ukraine can no longer do its job to confine radioactive waste as a result of a drone strike earlier this year, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The New Safe Confinement (NSC) at Chernobyl, which was “severely damaged” by the drone strike in February, has “lost its primary safety functions, including the confinement capability,” the IAEA said in a Friday statement.

Ukraine accused Russia of carrying out the February 14 strike at Chernobyl, which the Kremlin de

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