A crashed drone has sparked a large forest fire in the Chernobyl exclusion zone (where people are not allowed due to high levels of radiation - ed. note) , Euronews reported, citing Ukrainian authorities.
The drone crashed on May 7. Firefighters are working to contain the fire. Authorities said radiation levels at the site were within "normal limits".
A picture released by Ukraine's State Emergency Service showed a large column of white smoke rising into the sky from the area, parts of which have been closed to the public due to high levels of radioactivity.
The area around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant has been largely deserted since the 1986 accident.
As of 10:00 a.m. today, the fire had spread to about 11 square kilometers, the Chernobyl Nature Reserve said. The fire broke out on May 7 "as a result of a drone crash," it added, without specifying the origin of the drone.
Ukraine's State Emergency Service said rescuers were working to prevent the fire from spreading further.
"Due to strong gusts of wind, the fire is rapidly spreading across the territory, covering new areas of the forest," the statement said, adding that "the situation is complicated by dry weather, strong winds and the danger of mines in certain areas of the territory, which significantly limits the ability to extinguish fires."
Kiev has repeatedly accused Moscow of recklessly attacking its nuclear facilities, including the Chernobyl complex.
Last year, a Russian drone blew a hole in one of the radiation shields covering the reactor unit that exploded in the disaster in 1986
In 2020, forest fires broke out in the exclusion zone around the power plant, lasting several weeks and causing a spike in radiation levels.