Chernobyl Radiation Fears As Huge Forest Fires Break Out Next To Plant

Ukrainian authorities are increasingly concerned as forest fires rage near Chernobyl Power Plant.

According to officials, over 10 hectares of forest are currently burning in the Exclusion Zone.

Lyudmila Denisova, commissioner of the Verkhovna Rada (parliament) of Ukraine for Human Rights, said the flames have caused increasing levels of radioactive pollution in the area.

She has urged for immediate action to be taken by the International Atomic Energy Agency to 'prevent irreparable consequences not only for Ukraine but also for the whole world'.

In a post to Facebook, Ms Denisova said: "Control and suppression of fires is impossible due to the capture of the exclusion zone by Russian troops.

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"As a result of combustion, radionuclides are released into the atmosphere, which are transported by wind over long distances. This threatens radiation to Ukraine, Belarus and European countries.

"Catastrophic consequences can be prevented only by immediate deoccupation of the territory by Russian troops.

"Therefore, I call on international human rights organisations to take all possible measures to increase pressure on the Russian Federation to end military aggression against Ukraine and deoccupy high-risk areas."

Ukrainian politician Inna Sovsun tweeted: "10 hectares of forest are burning in the Chornobyl Zone, caused by #Russian shelling.

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"It isn't possible to put out the fire now, as this territory isn't controlled by #Ukraine. We're afraid that the fire will reach the nuclear power plant. The radiation level is already elevated."

This comes after Ukrainian authorities accused Russia of destroying a laboratory at Chernobyl, said to contain 'highly active' substances. 

The power plant was seized by Russian forces on the first day Vladimir Putin sent troops across the border on 24 February.

Since then, the plant has been subject to power outages, warnings of possible radiation leaks, and reports of workers at the plant being taken as hostages and forced to survive on just one meal and two hours of sleep a day.

Last week, Ukrainian officials claimed that 'highly active samples and samples of radionuclides are now in the hands of the enemy'.

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A radionuclide is a type of atom which is unstable due to having an excess of nuclear energy.

Officials also reported that the lab - which was opened in 2015 and has been functional ever since - contained valuable and unique equipment, as per The Times.

Authorities stated that they 'hope' that the 'highly active samples' and 'radionuclides' will 'harm' the enemy opposed to 'the civilised world,' The Independent reports.

Energoatom, the state nuclear company, confirmed on Monday (21 March) that it is currently 'impossible to adequately respond to threats' because of the monitoring system being down and there being 'no data on the current state of radiation pollution of the exclusion zone's environment'.