Massive forest fire sparked by Russian strikes in Ukraine's north doubles in size, drifts toward Russia
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Editor's note: The story was updated on May 8 to include the latest developments regarding the fire on the Ukrainian-Russian border.
A massive forest fire sparked by Russian attacks near the Ukraine–Russia border in Chernihiv Oblast has nearly doubled in size over the past day, with the fire front now moving toward Russian territory, Ukraine's state forestry enterprise "Forests of Ukraine" said on May 8
The fire, previously estimated at around 2,400 hectares (5,930 acres) on May 7, has now expanded to about 4,300 hectares (10,600 acres).
Extinguishing the fire remains "almost impossible", as it lies within a 5-kilometer (3-mile) border zone with Russia, where its FPV (first-person-view) drones "hunt anything that moves," destroying firefighting equipment operating near the border, "Forests of Ukraine" said on May 8.
Forestry workers are instead focusing on preventing the blaze from spreading deeper into Ukrainian territory by creating additional mineralized firebreak strips between forest areas, along roads, and near settlements, the agency added.
Daryna Tatarenko, a communications officer for the Northern Forest Office, a branch of the state forestry service "Forests of Ukraine," told the Kyiv Independent on May 7 that a blaze of around 2,400 hectares (5,930 acres) already constituted an "emergency situation."
Tatarenko said that forestry workers were unable to assess whether the area has suffered repeated Russian attacks because they do not have full access to the territory.
Nina Lutsenko, a State Emergency Service spokesperson, also told the Kyiv Independent on May 7 that emergency crews and forestry workers cannot access the area, as it lies within a 5-kilometer (3-mile) border zone where Russian FPV drones are continuously operating.
"We cannot reduce the area already affected, but we are trying to prevent the fire from spreading further," she said.
Russian attacks on May 5 caused the fire, the Northern Forest Office said.
On May 4, the forestry office reported nine separate forest fires in Sumy and Chernihiv oblasts caused by falling Russian drones over a three-day period.
According to the forestry office, 16.3 hectares (40 acres) of forest were destroyed in the earlier fires, including 6.9 hectares (17 acres) in the Vertiivske forestry area in Chernihiv Oblast, which the office at the time described as Ukraine’s largest forest fire this year.
