'Emergency situation' — Massive forest fire burns near Ukraine's border as Russian drones block access

Prefer on Google by Tania Myronyshena A massive forest fire caused by Russia’s war is burning across northern Chernihiv Oblast, Ukraine, on May 7, 2026. (Ukraine’s Northern Forest Office/Facebook) A massive forest fire caused by Russian attacks is burning across northern Chernihiv Oblast near the Russian border, with firefighters unable to fully extinguish the blaze because of the constant threat from first-person view (FPV) drones, Ukraine’s Northern Forest Office said on May 7. The fire, which has burned about 2,400 hectares (5,930 acres), has been designated as an "emergency situation," Daryna Tatarenko, a communications officer for the Northern Forest Office, a branch of the state forestry service "Forests of Ukraine," told the Kyiv Independent. Emergency crews and forestry workers cannot access the area because it lies within a 5-kilometer (3-mile) border zone where Russian FPV drones are constantly operating, a State Emergency Service spokesperson told the Kyiv Independent. Tatarenko said forestry workers are currently unable to assess whether the area has suffered repeated Russian attacks because they do not have full access to the territory. "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.