{"id":186845,"date":"2026-05-08T16:12:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T13:12:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/186845\/"},"modified":"2026-05-08T16:12:21","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T13:12:21","slug":"officials-chernobyl-wildfires-pose-no-immediate-threat-to-belarus","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/186845\/","title":{"rendered":"Officials: Chernobyl wildfires pose no immediate threat to Belarus"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n (dsns.gov.ua)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

May 8, Pozirk.<\/em> <\/strong>Firefighting efforts are ongoing in the exclusion zone surrounding the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, where a large-scale forest fire has already scorched more than 1,100 hectares, Ukraine\u2019s State Emergency Service says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Strong wind gusts are reportedly fueling the blaze, allowing it to spread rapidly through the forest and affect new areas. Dry weather, strong winds and landmines in certain areas are complicating the situation and significantly limiting firefighting efforts, Ukrainian authorities noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, the Belarusian Ministry of Forestry said the wildfire in the exclusion zone has not crossed into Belarusian territory and is localized seven kilometers from the Belarusian-Ukrainian border. However, it reported a risk of \u201ctransborder fire\u201d in the Homiel region\u2019s Lel\u010dycy district on the border in Ukraine, stressing that this fire originated outside of the Chernobyl exclusion zone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The No 4 reactor exploded at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the early hours of April 26, 1986.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although the plant is located in Ukraine, about 70 percent of the radioactive fallout from the explosion landed in Belarus, heavily contaminating one-fourth of the country, one-fifth of its agricultural land and affecting at least seven million people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Radioactive contamination completely emptied 479 settlements and affected 56 districts, 3,600 settlements with a population of about 2.5 million, including 1.5 million children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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