Radiation fears denied as Russian fires hit forests close to Chernobyl

FIRES have scorched forests contaminated with radiation from the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, a Russian forestry official said yesterday, but it was unclear what danger the smoke from such wildfires could pose.

Kremlin leaders are already grappling with Russia’s deadliest wildfires since 1972 and a drought that has destroyed crops after what weather monitoring officials say was the country’s hottest summer in a millennium.

Fears of stirring up nuclear pollution from the Chernobyl disaster could take the crisis to a new level, though officials said radiation levels were normal in Moscow and it was unclear if smoke from fires in contaminated forests could be dangerous.