Roughly 25 acres of forest were on fire around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant on Sunday, according to Ukrainian officials, who warned of spikes in radioactive air pollution that could threaten other parts of Europe. Politician Inna Sovsun wrote in a tweet that it wasn’t possible for Ukrainian firefighters to reach much of the blaze, as the territory remained under Russian control. “We’re afraid that the fire will reach the nuclear power plant,” Sovsun said. “The radiation level is already elevated.” The parliament’s commissioner for human rights, Lyudmila Denisova, had earlier claimed that as many as 31 fires had been recorded in the plant’s exclusion zone, calling on the International Atomic Energy Agency in a Facebook post to help “prevent irreparable consequences” for both Ukraine and the world. In a Sunday update, the IAEA did not mention the fires around Chernobyl but said it would “continue to monitor the situation,” expressing concern for the employees currently working at the plant, who have not been relieved since rotating in last week.
