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Natural Disasters

Forests on fire again in Chernobyl NPP exclusion zone

It noted that rescuers’ work is being hampered by heavy smoke, fallen trees, and difficult terrain

MOSCOW, May 15. /TASS/. New forest fires have been recorded in exclusion zone around the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, the Ukrainian State Agency for Exclusion Zone Management reported.

"After a large-scale fire was extinguished, new fires have been recorded in the exclusion zone. The fires are located on the territory of the Opachitsky Nature Conservation Research Department of the Chernobyl Radiation and Ecological Biosphere Reserve," the agency said in a statement posted on Facebook (banned in Russia; owned by the Meta corporation, designated as extremist in Russia).

It noted that rescuers’ work is being hampered by heavy smoke, fallen trees, and difficult terrain. Currently, "background radiation in the exclusion zone does not exceed control levels." The agency has not yet reported the size of the fire area. This is the second fire to break out in the Chernobyl exclusion zone in May. The first, which began on May 7, was only finally extinguished on May 12. That fire destroyed 1,200 hectares of forest. More than 300 firefighters were involved in extinguishing the fire.

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