New fires erupt in Chernobyl exclusion zone after drone strike Photo

New forest fires have broken out in Ukraine’s Chernobyl Exclusion Zone following a Russian drone attack, according to Ukraine’s State Agency for the Management of the Exclusion Zone (SAEZ).

The agency reported that the fires started on May 14 at around 13:21 local time after the downing of Russian “Geran-2” unmanned aerial vehicles. The blazes were recorded in the area of the Opachitsky Nature Conservation Research Department within the Chernobyl Radiation-Ecological Biosphere Reserve.

Rescue operations are ongoing but are being complicated by heavy smoke, fallen trees, and difficult terrain. Authorities said that pyrotechnic units from the State Emergency Service are working at crash sites where drone debris was reportedly found.

Despite the renewed fires, Ukrainian officials stressed that radiation levels remain within safe limits. Automated monitoring systems, they said, have not recorded any exceedances of gamma radiation thresholds, and background levels remain consistent with monthly averages.

“Russian attacks are once again posing a threat to the unique ecosystem of the Chernobyl zone,” the State Agency for Exclusion Zone Management said, warning that repeated fires endanger forests and wildlife that have been recovering since the 1986 nuclear disaster.

This marks the second fire in the exclusion zone this month. A previous blaze, which began on May 7, was fully extinguished on May 12 after burning approximately 1,200 hectares of forest and involving more than 300 firefighters.

By Sabina Mammadli