Iryna Matviyishyn: Unprepared Ukraine must learn from Chornobyl fires

As war-torn and pandemic-hit Ukraine entered April, the last thing the country needed was more drama. Unfortunately, that is exactly what happened. For much of the month, the coronavirus crisis and the ongoing conflict with Russia were both temporarily overshadowed by a spate of forest fires in the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone that generated lurid international headlines and plunged Kyiv into apocalyptic gloom. These blazes exposed Ukraine’s unpreparedness for such emergencies and served as a grim warning of what may lie ahead during the long summer months in a country parched by an abnormally warm winter season that saw record high temperatures and virtually no snow.

Read more here.