Fires broke out in the Chernobyl exclusion zone in the Kyiv region for the second time in a month as a result of an attack by Russian drones. The State Agency of Ukraine for Management of the Exclusion Zone (SAZO) reported this on Facebook.
New fires were recorded on May 14 on the territory of the Opachitsa environmental research department of the Chernobyl Radiation-Ecological Biosphere Reserve.
The fires started as a result of the downing of a Russian drone of the Geran-2 type.
“The situation is complicated by heavy smoke, fallen trees and inaccessible terrain. Heavy equipment, bulldozers and personnel with chainsaws are working to ensure access to the fires,” the GAZO statement says.
Wreckage of Russian drones was found at the drone crash sites. The pyrotechnic units of the State Service of Ukraine for Emergency Situations carried out work there.
Despite the new fires, background radiation in the exclusion zone remained within normal limits. According to the automated radiation monitoring system, no excesses of the control levels of the equivalent dose of gamma radiation were recorded, the GAZO emphasized.
“Russian attacks once again pose a threat to the unique ecosystem of the Chernobyl zone, where every new fire is a risk for forests, wildlife and areas that spent decades recovering after the 1986 disaster,” the agency noted.
