In the Chernobyl exclusion zone, more than 22,171 hectares of territory have burned since February 24, 2022, including about 14,000 hectares during the occupation, according to the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS).
This is not the final figure, because some fires are still ongoing, reports the "Ukrainian Nature Conservation Group – UNCG" on Facebook
The material noted that in 2022 Mr the most significant fires occurred during the occupation.
"The month of occupation had a negative impact on the ability of fire services to extinguish fires: equipment was destroyed or damaged, roads and landscapes were mined," said eco-activists.
Hundreds of thousands of hectares of forests and swamps, which are also contaminated with radiation, require complete demining. Which is currently difficult to implement.
Fires in the exclusion zone not only worsen the state of the atmosphere, but also endanger its barrier function (preventing the transfer of radioactive particles beyond its borders).
"Fires are destroying forests, meadows, swamps, habitats of rich fauna of the Chernobyl radiation-ecological biosphere reserve, causing significant damage to the nature of Ukraine and millions of dollars in losses to the state," the article says.
The 2022 fires are among the largest in the entire history of the zone.
Earlier, EcoPolitic wrote, that the government of Ukraine transferred 226,964.7 hectares to permanent use of the Chernobyl radiation and ecological biosphere reserve.
As EcoPolitic previously reported, in April, at one of the sites in the Red Forest in the Chernobyl zone, where the russian military was digging trenches, Energoatom specialists recorded abnormally high levels of radiation state.
