Russian shelling has lead to wildfires breaking out across Chernobyl's Exclusion Zone, it has been claimed.
It is believed that 25 acres of the forest surrounding the Chernobyl nuclear site - which is under Russian control - are now ablaze.
Officials are concerned the fire could sweep through the forest and tear through the power plant, leading to a nuclear disaster and "irreparable consequences" for Ukraine and the "whole world".
Ukrainian politician Inna Sovsun revealed on Twitter that authorities are unable to put out the inferno because the area is under Russian control.
She tweeted: "10 hectares of forest are burning in the Chornobyl Zone, caused by #Russian shelling.
"It isn't possible to put out the fire now, as this territory isn't controlled by #Ukraine.
"We're afraid that the fire will reach the nuclear power plant. The radiation level is already elevated."
Ms Sovsun's comments came after the speaker of Ukraine's parliament, Lyudmila Denisova, announced details about the wildfires earlier today.
She claimed that 31 fires have already been recorded in the the Zone - the 1,000 square miles surrounding the plant where radioactivity is highest and where public access and residence is restricted, according to Interfax Ukraine.
Ms Denisova warned the fires have lead to a spike in radioactive air pollution and called on the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to send experts and firefighters to the war-torn nation to "prevent irreparable consequences not only for Ukraine but for the whole world".
"As a result of combustion, radionuclides are released into the atmosphere, which are carried by wind over long distances. This threatens radiation to Ukraine, Belarus and European countries," Ms Denisova said.
The site contains nuclear fuel storage facilities and nuclear waste dumps, which if set alight could lead to a nuclear disaster, authorities have warned.
The fires could intensify depending on weather - with large-scale blazes a possibility should conditions become windy and dry.
However, Russian state media channels say the Exclusion Zone is not on fire - and filmed an area they claimed to be the Chernobyl site without blazes raging or smoke billowing into the sky.
The Zone was cordoned off after the explosion on April 26, 1986, which produced a radioactive cloud that stretched across Europe - in what was the world's worst nuclear accident.
Earlier today Ukrainian authorities announced that Russian forces had fired rockets at a nuclear research facility in Kharkiv - which remains under siege.
And fears are growing of a nuclear disaster at Chernobyl itself after Russian troops pummeled the town where the plant's staff live.
There are concerns Russian shelling of Ukrainian checkpoints in the city of Slavutych, home Chernobyl nuclear workers, is preventing workers coming in and out of the plant.
And the bombing comes just days after Ukrainian workers who were being held by Russian forces to maintain the nuclear plant for nearly four weeks without being rotated were finally able to go back to their homes in Slavutych.
Staff working at Chernobyl have been held at gunpoint since Russia captured the site on the first day of the invasion on February 24.
