KYIV: A large forest fire burned through the Chernobyl exclusion zone on Friday following a drone crash near the disaster-tainted nuclear plant the previous day, Ukrainian authorities said.

Radiation levels at the site were within "normal limits", authorities reported, adding that firefighters were working to contain the blaze.

Images showed columns of white smoke billowing from the area, parts of which are closed off to the public due to high levels of radioactivity.

The site surrounding the Chernobyl nuclear plant has been largely deserted since the plant suffered a catastrophic meltdown in 1986. It has since been converted into a nature reserve.

"As of 3:00 pm [1200 GMT] the estimated area of the fire, which broke out after two drones crashed within the Chernobyl nature reserve, is about 1,180 hectares," the reserve's director Denis Nesterov said in a post on Facebook.

He did not say the origin of the drones.

The governor of the neighboring Chernigiv region gave a higher estimate, suggesting the fire had spread across an area spanning 40 square kilometers.

"The aggressor is preventing the fire from being extinguished. Their drones are constantly hovering over the area," Chernigiv governor Vyacheslav Chaus added.

Kyiv has repeatedly accused Moscow of recklessly attacking its nuclear sites, including the Chernobyl complex.

A Russian drone last year punctured a hole in one of the radiation shells covering the reactor unit that exploded on April 26, 1986.

Rescuers were working to prevent the further spread of the fire, Ukraine's state emergency service said.

"Due to strong gusts of wind, the fire is rapidly spreading across the territory, covering new sections of the forest," it said.

"The situation is complicated by dry weather, strong winds and mine danger in certain areas of the territory, which significantly limits the possibility of extinguishing work."

The exclusion zone suffered wildfires in 2020, which lasted several weeks and caused a spike in background radiation.

Ukraine only last month marked 40 years since the disaster.

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Forest fire burns near Chernobyl nuclear plant after drone crash