More than 760 hectares of fields have burned in Mykolaiv region during harvest since the beginning of the year

In 2025, 1857 fires occurred in Mykolaiv region, of which 1233 were in open areas and natural ecosystems. This is more than 66% of the total number.

This was announced by Oleksandr Shvets, Deputy Head of the Department — Head of the Fire Safety Department of the Main Directorate of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Mykolaiv region, during a briefing on 2 July, according to NikVesti.

According to him, the grain harvesting campaign has already begun in the region, and 40 fires have already been recorded, destroying more than 762 hectares of fields with crops.

«This is not to say that fires are caused by grain fields. Fires are caused by people's careless handling of fire. These are arsons of dry grass, forest belts, plantations, which then spread to grain fields, leading to large losses and large areas of fire», explained Oleksandr Shvets.

He added that other causes of fires include the failure of local governments to remove combustible waste in a timely manner, mowing dry grass along roads, and lack of access to water sources and access to rivers and ponds.

«In order to implement these measures, the regional military administration signed an order No. 187 of 26 May 2025 on preventing and combating mass fires in the territory of forests, nature reserves, rivers and other lands. I think the order is in place, it has been signed, communicated to everyone, everyone seems to be working, fulfilling their duties, but unfortunately, we have what we have», Oleksandr Shvets summed up.

As a reminder, five field fires occurred in Mykolaiv region on 30 June and on the night of 1 July. More than 520 hectares of grain crops were destroyed.

On 29 June, 75 hectares of wheat burned down in Mykolaiv region. Rescuers managed to protect another 250 hectares. The State Emergency Service estimated that 75 hectares of wheat could be used to bake about 700,000 loaves of bread and feed the entire region.

Earlier, the SES noted that the number of fires in Mykolaiv region had increased.