Ukraine Fire breaks out in radioactively contaminated Chernobyl zone

In Ukraine, a forest fire has broken out in the radioactively contaminated exclusion zone around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. An area of around 20 hectares is on fire, the governor of the Kiev region, Ruslan Kravchenko, announced on Facebook. However, the radioactive background radiation is within the norm. According to the restricted zone administration, more than 200 firefighters are in action, including 50 soldiers. They have already been able to contain the flames.

Due to this fire and peat fires in the Browary district to the east of Kiev, there could also be more smoke. In this case, the authorities are advising people to keep their windows closed and spend little time outdoors. No details were given as to the cause of the fire. Due to high summer temperatures and prolonged drought, there is an increased risk of fire in the northern Ukrainian region of Kiev.

In 1986, the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in northern Ukraine, which was still under Soviet control at the time, suffered the largest nuclear accident in history. Due to the radioactive radiation, a zone within a radius of around 30 kilometers of the accident site was completely closed. Tens of thousands of people were relocated. During their invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russian troops nevertheless used the largely deserted restricted area along the Belarusian border to advance on the Ukrainian capital Kiev, which is just over 80 kilometers from the border. Since its withdrawal in April 2022, Ukraine has kept the border area with Russia's ally Belarus under special military control.

SDA