Russia said today that it is continuously monitoring radiation levels following the wildfires that broke out in the exclusion zone surrounding the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine, adding that no dangerous increase in radiation has been detected.

“The radiation situation in the Russian Federation remains stable,” Russia’s national public health authority said in a statement.

Strong winds complicate firefighting efforts

Meanwhile, Ukrainian emergency services reported that firefighters are continuing efforts to contain the fires in the Chernobyl exclusion zone.

According to Ukrainian officials, firefighting operations have been complicated by strong winds in the area, as well as by scattered landmines left behind as a result of the war.

Earlier, Ukrainian authorities said the large forest fire in the exclusion zone was triggered after a drone crash, while stressing that radiation levels had not risen above normal levels.

Fire spreads across 11,000 acres

“Following the drone crash, a fire broke out yesterday in the Chernobyl protected zone,” the administration of the exclusion zone stated.

Authorities added that the fire remains active across approximately 11,000 acres, with strong wind gusts continuing to hamper firefighting efforts.

The Chernobyl disaster is widely regarded as the worst nuclear accident in the history of civilian nuclear energy. The 1986 explosion released radioactive materials, including iodine-131, cesium-134, and cesium-137, contaminating large parts of Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, and areas across northern and central Europe.