By Tsarizm Staff | April 13, 2020
Wildfires burning out of control near the site of the abandoned nuclear reactor at Chernobyl, Ukraine could threaten the health of locals as smoke from the fires could disperse radiation from the nuclear accident decades ago in 1986.
The blaze has burned through over 3,000 hectares in a week and elevated radiation levels have been recorded near the fires, reports RFERL.
The Kyiv regional administration has ordered citizens to stay at home from last Friday to today. Over 100 firefighters have been deployed along with helicopters and planes to fight multiple fires.
The fires have sparked fears about radiation in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, which is about 60 miles south of Chernobyl, but authorities said that testing by experts sent by the government on Monday had found that there had been no rise in radiation levels in Kyiv or its surrounding suburbs, reported ABC News.
“You needn’t be afraid to open your windows or to air out your apartment during quarantine,” Yegor Firsov, the head of Ukraine’s state ecological inspection service wrote on his Facebook page [1] on Monday.
A man in his 20s has been detained in connection with the situation.
This piece originally appeared on Tsarizm.com [4] and is used by permission.