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Wildfires & wind: The day Kyiv had trouble seeing & breathing

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Cars drive at a checkpoint outside of Kyiv on April 16, 2020, as a sandstorm rages in the background, obscuring the view.
Photo by Kostyantyn Chernichkin

On April 16, a combination of grassfires and strong winds enveloped Kyiv and surrounding areas in a haze of smoke, sand, and dirt. Air quality? Hazardous. Authorities warned to people stay inside with windows closed.  On April 17, the U.S. Air Quality Index (AQI) for Kyiv is 163, better than the previous evening’s 380, turning Ukraine’s capital into the most polluted city in the world. Some of the wildfires were around the area of the closed Chornobyl nuclear power plant north of Kyiv, while others came from Zhytomyr Oblast, west of Kyiv.

Read: As Chornobyl fires flare up again, smoke covers Kyiv

 

 

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