Ukrainian expert debunks blue dog mystery at Chernobyl nuclear site

A Ukrainian expert has put an end to speculation surrounding a video showing blue dogs roaming the contaminated exclusion zone of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster site in northern Ukraine.

"That's nonsense," Serhiy Kireev told journalists in Chernobyl. Kireev, who heads the state-owned company responsible for monitoring the zone, Ecocenter, confirmed that there are no blue dogs in northern Ukraine.

The dogs have been sterilized to curb their breeding, he explained. The blue dye indicates which animals have undergone the procedure.

"The dye is harmless to these dogs," Kireev said.

Footage of several blue dogs had circulated widely in international media, prompting speculation about the effects of the area's radioactive contamination.

The explosion of a nuclear reactor at the Chernobyl power plant in the former Soviet Union in April 1986 is considered the most serious disaster in the history of civilian nuclear energy use.

All villages within a radius of around 30 kilometres were evacuated. Thousands of people suffered radiation damage, and tens of thousands were resettled.

Dogs left behind after the disaster multiplied and the area is today home to a large population of the stray animals.