Russian troops have entered an area near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, an adviser to Ukraine’s interior minister has claimed.

An official claimed that fighting is raging in Chernobyl, near the facility where radioactive disaster struck in 1986.

Forces from Russia are said to have entered the area from the Belarusian side.

There are fears that the clashes could disturb a nuclear waste store.

Earlier Thursday, an airstrike hit an area near Chernobyl.

The site was the scene of the worst nuclear disaster in history, and an exclusion zone has been set up around the area ever since.

(With input from the agencies)