A forest fire has spread to within a kilometer of the Chernobyl power plant, posing radiation risk not only for Ukraine but also all European countries.

More than 300 firefighters work to extinguish the wildfires which started on April 3.

“Wildfires near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant burning since April 3 have already become the largest for the entire existence of this exclusion zone. These fires are extremely dangerous because radionuclides located in the upper soil layers might be released into the air,” Greenpeace warned.

The Chernobyl nuclear accident occurred on Saturday 26 April 1986, at the No. 4 nuclear reactor in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, near the city of Pripyat in the north of the Ukrainian SSR. It is considered the worst nuclear disaster in history. (ILKHA)