Today at 17:40 a large-scale fire in Luhansk region was localized. There are three smoldering areas, all forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs will continue to work there. This was announced by Interior Minister Arsen Avakov.

"There is no threat to the population and infrastructure. Police officers are continuing to inspect the scene to determine the extent of the damage. I express gratitude to everyone for the precise and coordinated teamwork," said Arsen Avakov.

Besides, First Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Serhii Yarovyy and Head of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine Mykola Chechotkin conducted aerial monitoring of the fire-hit areas and visited the operational headquarters.

Serhii Yarovyy noted that the current objective is to understand the cause of the fire.

"It is fundamentally important for us to puzzle out the cause of the fire in order to prevent such a situation in the future. The population and the ecosystem have suffered rather serious consequences. Moreover, the area of the Joint Forces Operation is in the vicinity, hence we cannot use the equipment, including aircraft, to the full extent," the First Deputy Minister said.

In turn, Mykola Chechotkin said that about 1,500 employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and 300 units of equipment had been involved in firefighting activities.

"These are rescuers, employees of the National Police and servicemen of the National Guard, employees of the forest resources agency, as well as local authorities. I think that we have practically coped with this task, but I want to note that both forces and reserves remain here," he said.

As was reported earlier, the police considers three main versions of emergence of a large-scale fire in Luhansk region.