The Ministry for Emergency Situations and Protection of Population from the Chornobyl Accident Consequences says that the smoke registered in Kyiv and Chernihiv regions was caused by forest fires in Russia, Deputy Emergency Situation Minister Vitalii Romanchenko told a briefing.

He said that on August 2 evening, the ministry held an interagency meeting to analyze reasons of smoke in Kyiv and Chernihiv regions.

At the end of the meeting, the cause of the smoke was confirmed: the smoke was the result of forest fires in the Russian Federation.

"Comprehensive examination of the issue lets us make a conclusion that the smoke in Kyiv and Chernihiv regions as well as in the city of Kyiv was caused by fires in Russia," Romanchenko said.

He said that no forest and peat-bog fires have been found on the territory of those Ukrainian regions.

At the same time, the sanitarian station has not registered increase of contents of harmful matters in the area.

According to head of the Ukrainian Weather Center Mykola Kulbida, on the night of August 1-2, air masses were moving from north and northeastern direction: from western Belarus, Voronezh and Briansk regions, Russia.

He said that on Tuesday, August 3, the direction of air mass moving should shift to the east.

Kulbida said that soon, no air masses should come from the north.

Besides, the head of the Weather Center said that the most regions of the country have the 5 class of fire hazard.

He said that the highest fire hazard is in Luhansk. Donetsk, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Sumy regions, in places in Kirovohrad, Cherkasy and Chernihiv regions.

According to Kulbida, the situation with danger of fire will not change for better taking in account the weather forecast for the next several days.

As Ukrainian News earlier reported, the State forestry committee believes that smoke seen in Kyiv and Chernihiv regions was caused by fires in Russia.

On August 2, the Ministry for Emergency Situations and Protection of Population from the Chornobyl Accident Consequences liquidated the second inflammation of peat-bog with the area of 0.7 hectares in the village of Leonivka in Kyiv region.