17 Apr 2020 15:09

Chernobyl zone fires not spreading to Russian territory, radiation levels normal - Russian Emergency Situations Ministry

MOSCOW. April 17 (Interfax) - No changes in radiation levels have been registered in areas of Russia bordering the Ukrainian Chernobyl exclusion zone, the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry told Interfax.

"The Main Directorate of the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry for the Bryansk region has been monitoring the situation surrounding the wildfires in the Chernobyl exclusion zone around-the-clock since the first flash points were discovered on April 4. No changes in radiation levels have been registered in areas of the region close to the border," the Emergency Situations Ministry said.

The fires in the exclusion zone have not had an effect on people's lives and safety, the ministry said.

"The distance from the wildfire locations in the Chernobyl exclusion zone on the territory of Ukraine to the nearest border of the Bryansk region (the Klimovsky and Zlynkovsky districts) is more than 150 km. As was predicted earlier, smoke from the fires is not spreading onto the territory of Russia," the ministry said.

Radiation levels are being monitored using a segment of the Russian automatic radiation control system, whose elements are deployed in every municipal entity of the region, as well as the territories of the Republic of Belarus bordering the Chernobyl exclusion zone, it said.

"Operative data on radiation levels are received by the Crisis Management Center of the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry's Main Directorate for the Bryansk region automatically every 15 minutes. Monitoring of the situation will continue," the ministry said.

The Kremlin said earlier on Friday that the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry is monitoring the situation surrounding the fires in the Chernobyl area in Ukraine.

According to earlier reports, Kyiv is the worst affected city in terms of air pollution as a result of the fires in the Chernobyl zone.