The forest protection service has identified seven regions where dozens of fires have been burning in contaminated zones , with attention focusing on bryansk , one of the regions most heavily contaminated by the chernobyl disaster .
At the peak of the blaze last summer , a major concern was that fires in the bryansk region , east of chernobyl - the site of the nuclear power plant that exploded in 1986 - could cause radioactive particles in the soil to be released into the atmosphere .