Britain is funding £17m (€20m, $22m) in new support for repairs to the Chornobyl nuclear power plant, the government announced.

The UK will contribute the funds towards restoring the plant’s protective shelter and ventilation systems damaged in an attack last year, following concerns that corrosion could pose long-term safety and environmental hazards.

The protective shelter, known as the New Safe Confinement (NSC), was damaged by a Russian drone strike last year, and UK support will form part of an international programme coordinated by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), working alongside the government of Ukraine and G7 donors.