Several fires have been successfully fought in the restricted area around the former Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

The Ukrainian nuclear regulatory authority has informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that the Chernobyl fire brigade has put out four fires, Director General Rafael Grossi said on Wednesday evening.

But there are more fires.

On Tuesday, the Ukrainian parliament announced that seven fires had broken out in the area and that an area of ​​more than two square kilometers was in flames.

Russian troops took control of the area around the nuclear power plant about a month ago.

It was there in 1986 that the worst nuclear accident in the history of civilian use of nuclear power occurred.

According to the Ukrainian supervisory authority, no radiation measurements are currently being carried out in the exclusion zone, the IAEA said.

A slight increase in the concentration of cesium in the air was found in Kyiv and in two places west of Chernobyl.

The Ukrainian regulator informed the IAEA that this did not raise any significant radiological concerns.

Kyiv said the fires were "probably" caused by armed aggression by the Russian Federation.

That couldn't be verified.

However, forest fires and wildfires have repeatedly occurred there in the past.

There had already been major fires around the nuclear ruins in spring 2020.

At that time, the authorities assured several times that the radioactivity in the adjacent populated regions was below the limit values ​​and that there was no danger to the population.

Grossi also said he remains very concerned about the situation in Ukraine.

He stressed the urgent need for an agreement that would allow the IAEA to provide technical assistance for the safe operation of Ukraine's nuclear facilities, including the presence of IAEA experts on the ground.