Chernobyl zone in flames for second day, governor says…

Chernobyl zone in flames for second day, governor says Russian drones are hindering firefighting

08.05.2026 16:00 HotInfo

📌 Update, May 9, 2026: The fire continues into its second day; on Friday, Russian drones over the area complicated firefighting efforts. Since Saturday 00:00, a three-day truce between Russia and Ukraine announced by Donald Trump has formally been in effect — however, the Ukrainian General Staff is already reporting overnight violations. pravda.sk ↗ HN ↗

The zone around the former Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine's Kyiv region was engulfed by a large forest fire on Friday, May 8. It started after two drones crashed on Thursday, May 7, Ukrainian authorities reported. No one has yet publicly specified the origin of the drones. According to Ukraine's State Emergency Service and the AFP news agency, radiation levels in the area remain within normal limits. pravda.sk ↗ Le Figaro/AFP ↗

The scale of the fire is estimated differently by different sources. The director of the exclusion zone, Denys Nesterov, stated on Friday afternoon that the fire covers approximately 1,180 hectares (12 km²). However, Viacheslav Chaus, head of the neighboring Chernihiv Regional Military Administration, claims the scale is significantly larger — up to 40 km² (roughly 4,000 hectares). The rescue operation is being complicated by strong winds, dry weather, and the risk of mine explosions, which remain in the zone as a legacy of the Russian occupation in 2022. pravda.sk ↗ Die Zeit ↗

Drones over the nuclear zone: according to Chaus, Russian drones flew over the area throughout Friday and hindered the firefighting effort. "The aggressor is preventing the fire from being extinguished. Its drones are constantly flying over the area," he stated. Last year, a Russian drone punched a hole in one of the protective radiation shells of reactor No. 4 — the so-called New Safe Confinement, whose protective arch was slid into place over the reactor in 2016, with the entire project completed in 2019. The reactor exploded in 1986. pravda.sk ↗ SITA ↗

Three-day truce and violations: On Friday evening, Donald Trump announced a halt to fighting between Russia and Ukraine from May 9–11, to mark the occasion of Russia's Victory Day — the 81st anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany, as it is known in Soviet and Russian tradition. Russian spokesman Dmitry Peskov and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky both accepted the initiative. On Saturday morning, however, the Ukrainian General Staff reported overnight fighting on the front, and the daily HN, citing authorities, wrote of a Russian artillery and drone attack in the Dnipropetrovsk region that claimed one life. Independent ↗ HN ↗

The fire thus combines three risks at once: contaminated forest terrain, mines left over from the Russian occupation in 2022, and drone activity over a nuclear-sensitive site during a formally declared truce.

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