According to Yaroslav Yemelianenko, the head of the Association of Chernobyl Tour Operators and also works with the state agency that manages the Exclusion Zone, said the fires are burning 1.2 miles from the power station containing radioactive waste.

Yemelianenko wrote on Facebook that the situation is "critical" and accused local government officials of downplaying the severity of the fire.

"The situation is critical. The zone is ablaze," Yemelianenko wrote. "The local authorities report that everything is under control, but in fact the fire is rapidly spreading across new areas."

"I have two possibilities for what's going on: either the Cabinet is not being told the real situation or they've chosen the Soviet policy of hushing it up, as they did in '86," he wrote.