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Drone strike hits cooling tower at Russia's Kursk nuclear plant

The International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed the incident, stating the reactor remained operational.

AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made

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Drone strike hits cooling tower at Russia's Kursk nuclear plant

What this story says

  • A drone hit the cooling tower of a reactor unit at the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant in Russia on Thursday, September 17.
  • The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was informed of the strike.
  • The reactor unit was operating at the time of the incident, and no fire was reported.
  • IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi stated that all attacks on nuclear facilities are unacceptable.

Who covered it

Left 18%(9)Centre 33%(17)Right 49%(25)

Percentages are shares of the 51 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 10 of the 61 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .

Trust

42/100

Craft

59/100

Hype

41/100

61 sources · methodology

Missing from the left

Only 9 of the 51 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated left.

A reader who follows the left would not have seen this. We report the absence rather than explain it: outlets choose what to cover for many reasons, and we have no evidence about which one applies here.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported that a drone struck the cooling tower of a reactor unit at the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant in Russia on Thursday, September 17. The agency was informed of the incident, which occurred early in the morning. The reactor unit was operating at the time of the strike, and no fire was reported. IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi stated that all attacks on nuclear facilities are unacceptable and could jeopardise nuclear safety and security.

Disagreement on drone origin

One outlet mentioned a Ukrainian drone strike, while others did not specify the origin of the drone.

What the coverage left out

None of the left or centre-rated reports mention that the drone strike occurred days after a plea for an energy truce between Russia and Ukraine. None of the left-rated reports mention that the drone was Ukrainian. None of the centre-rated reports mention that the drone was Ukrainian or that the incident occurred days after a plea for an energy truce between Russia and Ukraine.

Coverage settled. We checked this 9 times and stopped on 24 Sept 2026, 03:45. The figures above are what it finished at.

How each side covered it

Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.

Left

9 rated outlets

  • The left-rated outlets reported that a drone struck a cooling tower at Russia's Kursk nuclear power plant. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed the incident, stating the unit was operating at the time and no fire was reported.
  • The IAEA's director general, Rafael Grossi, was quoted saying that attacks on nuclear facilities are unacceptable and could endanger safety. He reiterated calls for military restraint to prevent accidents.
  • One report mentioned a previous incident in August 2025 where a Ukrainian drone caused a fire at the same plant. Another noted the IAEA had not yet specified which unit was hit or who operated the drone.

Centre

17 rated outlets

  • The centre-rated reports led with headlines such as "Drone hit cooling tower on Thursday at Russian Kursk nuclear plant, IAEA says" and "Drone Hits Cooling Tower at Russia’s Kursk Nuclear Plant, No Fire Reported: IAEA". These reports included that the IAEA was informed of the drone strike on the cooling tower of a reactor unit at the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant on Thursday, September 17. They stated the reactor unit was operating at the time of the strike and no fire broke out. The IAEA's statement that all attacks on nuclear facilities are unacceptable was also included.

Right

25 rated outlets

  • The right-rated reports used headlines including "International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi said any attacks on nuclear facilities are unacceptable and may jeopardize nuclear safety and security following a Ukrainian drone strike on the Kursk.." and "Ukrainian Drone Hits Russian Nuclear Plant Days After Trump Energy Truce Plea". These reports stated the IAEA was informed of a drone attack on the cooling tower of one of the Kursk NPP’s power units early on September 17. They noted the unit was working at the time of the attack. One report explicitly mentioned a "Ukrainian drone strike".

Questions about this coverage

How did the left and right cover Drone strike hits cooling tower at Russia's Kursk nuclear plant?
Of the 51 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 18% are rated left, 33% are rated centre, 49% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 61. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
Is Drone strike hits cooling tower at Russia's Kursk nuclear plant left or right?
Neither side dominates it. Of the 51 rated outlets on this story, 18% are rated left, 33% are rated centre, 49% are rated right, and no side holds the 70% this site would want before calling a field one-sided. A story is not left or right in any case; the outlets that carried it are what carry ratings.
Is the coverage of Drone strike hits cooling tower at Russia's Kursk nuclear plant biased?
Drone strike hits cooling tower at Russia's Kursk nuclear plant is one event reported by 61 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
Which side is not reporting Drone strike hits cooling tower at Russia's Kursk nuclear plant?
When we first saw this story, outlets rated left had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
Which outlets covered Drone strike hits cooling tower at Russia's Kursk nuclear plant?
61 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
What happened at the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant?
A drone struck the cooling tower of a reactor unit at the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant in Russia on Thursday, September 17. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed the incident. The reactor unit was operating at the time of the strike, and no fire was reported.
What was the IAEA's response to the drone strike?
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi stated that all attacks on nuclear facilities are unacceptable and could jeopardise nuclear safety and security. He reiterated the call for maximum military restraint to prevent nuclear accidents.
Was the origin of the drone specified?
One report mentioned a Ukrainian drone strike. However, most of the reports did not specify the origin of the drone that hit the cooling tower.

Read it at the source

133 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.

Left

9
Show 1 more

Centre

17
Show 9 more

Right

25
Show 17 more

Not rated

82
Show 74 more

How did this read?

About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.

Kursk Nuclear Plant Drone Strike | MediaBias News