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Kulykivka fire, 22 March 2026 Куликівський район · Kulykivka, Mena

Out · last detection 2 Aug 2026, 10:45 UTC

The fire started on 22 March 2026 in Kulykivka, Ukraine, and satellites saw it burning for 134 days. Copernicus mapped a burnt perimeter of 139 hectares from satellite imagery, spread across 2 municipalities.

It is the 119th largest in Chernihiv Oblast since 2016 (of 156 with a page). Number 685 in Ukraine in 2026, of 984.

The power measured by the satellite is low (5.3 MW in the strongest hotspot), more typical of grass or stubble burning, or a slow surface fire, than of a large crown fire.

Compare with…

Suggestions: Chornobai · 2025Vyshhorod · 2026Mena · 2021Kulykivka · 2026

Burnt area
139ha
Copernicus perimeter
Duration
≈ 134days
22 Mar 2026 – 2 Aug 2026
Municipalities hit
2
districts
Started on
22 Mar
2026
Heat detections
1
in a single hotspot: 5 MW
Danger at start
5
Very low · FWI index
Average daily power
5MW
detected power per day, on average

Where it burned

HOTSPOTS BY DAY 22 Mar2 Aug

How it evolved, day by day

2 Aug 2026 · 5 MW · 1

Fire radiative power detected each day, in megawatts, and number of hotspots. The magenta bar marks the peak day.

The weather it burned in

32°high
73km/h · peak gust
20%lowest humidity

It had gone 25 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 10.0 mm on 8 Aug.

This area had burned before

39% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 54 ha in 2025.

What happened to each town

  1. Kulykivka Куликівський район 27.5 km from the centre where it started
    125 ha
    0.1 %
  2. Mena Менський район 34,522 inhabitants · 12.3 km from the centre
    14 ha reached on 2 Aug
    0.0 %

Burnt area inside each municipality, from crossing the official perimeter with administrative boundaries. The distance runs from the point marking the centre of each area to the nearest fire: staying a kilometre away does not mean it reached the houses.

What burned

  • Agricultural areas64 %
  • Other natural land36 %

Land cover inside the perimeter as reported by Copernicus EFFIS (outside the Corine Land Cover area).

The weather day by day

ECMWF ERA5 reanalysis at the fire location, the standard reference for past weather, and the Canadian Fire Weather Index (the same system Copernicus uses), computed by WorldFires from that data. Days after the fire run until the first rain.

Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0) · Copernicus Climate Change Service (ERA5)

Day High Min. humidity Peak gust Rain Danger (FWI)
22 Mar 11.3 °C 41 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 5
23 Mar 10.3 °C 44 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 5
24 Mar 14.3 °C 24 % 17 km/h 0.0 mm Low 5
25 Mar 14.0 °C 32 % 22 km/h 0.0 mm Low 8
26 Mar 14.3 °C 59 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Low 7
27 Mar 16.9 °C 45 % 29 km/h 0.0 mm Low 8
28 Mar 14.6 °C 56 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Low 9
29 Mar 15.1 °C 54 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm Low 7
30 Mar 16.0 °C 41 % 31 km/h 0.6 mm Low 10
31 Mar 16.8 °C 57 % 20 km/h 0.4 mm Low 6
1 Apr 17.4 °C 60 % 28 km/h 5.5 mm Low 6
2 Apr 18.4 °C 44 % 25 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 1
3 Apr 17.3 °C 50 % 22 km/h 1.3 mm Very low 2
4 Apr 16.0 °C 26 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Low 8
5 Apr 13.6 °C 28 % 54 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 19
6 Apr 12.0 °C 57 % 44 km/h 6.4 mm Very low 1
7 Apr 6.7 °C 75 % 48 km/h 3.2 mm Very low 0
8 Apr 7.4 °C 68 % 35 km/h 2.3 mm Very low 0
9 Apr 6.2 °C 66 % 41 km/h 1.0 mm Very low 0
10 Apr 3.1 °C 78 % 35 km/h 3.0 mm Very low 0
11 Apr 4.9 °C 70 % 18 km/h 1.0 mm Very low 0
12 Apr 6.6 °C 76 % 24 km/h 4.0 mm Very low 0
13 Apr 12.2 °C 44 % 28 km/h 0.3 mm Very low 0
14 Apr 15.9 °C 27 % 47 km/h 0.0 mm Low 5
15 Apr 10.6 °C 59 % 42 km/h 4.0 mm Very low 2
16 Apr 17.6 °C 34 % 30 km/h 1.1 mm Very low 1
17 Apr 14.3 °C 43 % 34 km/h 0.5 mm Very low 3
18 Apr 12.8 °C 52 % 35 km/h 0.6 mm Very low 3
19 Apr 10.0 °C 44 % 40 km/h 1.1 mm Low 6
20 Apr 8.3 °C 38 % 31 km/h 0.9 mm Low 6
21 Apr 8.4 °C 35 % 34 km/h 0.3 mm Low 7
22 Apr 14.5 °C 23 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Low 10
23 Apr 8.3 °C 45 % 68 km/h 2.9 mm Low 7
24 Apr 8.1 °C 37 % 51 km/h 0.1 mm Very low 5
25 Apr 14.1 °C 55 % 49 km/h 1.2 mm Low 6
26 Apr 11.1 °C 56 % 68 km/h 6.5 mm Very low 1
27 Apr 8.3 °C 46 % 73 km/h 1.6 mm Very low 4
28 Apr 8.2 °C 40 % 53 km/h 0.4 mm Very low 3
29 Apr 8.4 °C 47 % 31 km/h 2.1 mm Very low 3
30 Apr 8.0 °C 39 % 34 km/h 0.1 mm Very low 2
1 May 10.8 °C 35 % 25 km/h 0.3 mm Very low 4
2 May 15.0 °C 34 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm Low 7
3 May 21.9 °C 34 % 40 km/h 1.3 mm Moderate 14
4 May 27.0 °C 23 % 21 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 14
5 May 28.3 °C 20 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 21
6 May 29.1 °C 21 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm High 24
7 May 28.4 °C 22 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm High 29
8 May 25.0 °C 29 % 38 km/h 0.2 mm High 30
9 May 19.6 °C 46 % 27 km/h 0.4 mm Moderate 15
10 May 15.5 °C 81 % 20 km/h 8.5 mm Very low 0
11 May 16.5 °C 59 % 29 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 1
12 May 22.8 °C 48 % 40 km/h 5.7 mm Low 7
13 May 19.5 °C 58 % 49 km/h 7.6 mm Very low 1
14 May 12.4 °C 79 % 46 km/h 13.6 mm Very low 0
15 May 15.5 °C 75 % 34 km/h 1.8 mm Very low 0
16 May 22.4 °C 39 % 20 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 1
17 May 21.7 °C 49 % 35 km/h 11.0 mm Very low 4
18 May 23.1 °C 59 % 40 km/h 5.3 mm Very low 0
19 May 28.9 °C 44 % 26 km/h 1.2 mm Low 6
20 May 26.4 °C 48 % 32 km/h 1.0 mm Very low 3
21 May 28.5 °C 40 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm Low 10
22 May 30.2 °C 34 % 35 km/h 1.1 mm Moderate 18
23 May 22.7 °C 42 % 37 km/h 0.6 mm Low 10
24 May 22.9 °C 47 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Low 11
25 May 21.9 °C 44 % 45 km/h 1.3 mm Moderate 14
26 May 19.0 °C 45 % 66 km/h 1.4 mm Low 9
27 May 18.3 °C 48 % 62 km/h 3.1 mm Low 9
28 May 14.2 °C 51 % 56 km/h 1.6 mm Low 7
29 May 12.8 °C 63 % 55 km/h 4.8 mm Very low 2
30 May 13.2 °C 66 % 32 km/h 2.6 mm Very low 0
31 May 15.2 °C 65 % 21 km/h 3.6 mm Very low 0
1 Jun 20.4 °C 42 % 21 km/h 0.1 mm Very low 1
2 Jun 23.0 °C 37 % 22 km/h 0.0 mm Low 7
3 Jun 20.9 °C 47 % 24 km/h 2.5 mm Low 8
4 Jun 20.6 °C 57 % 34 km/h 3.6 mm Very low 2
5 Jun 24.8 °C 49 % 26 km/h 0.4 mm Low 7
6 Jun 25.9 °C 45 % 24 km/h 0.4 mm Low 10
7 Jun 24.2 °C 65 % 25 km/h 2.3 mm Very low 2
8 Jun 25.9 °C 53 % 50 km/h 3.4 mm Moderate 14
9 Jun 21.7 °C 79 % 26 km/h 8.3 mm Very low 1
10 Jun 25.4 °C 61 % 19 km/h 1.3 mm Very low 0
11 Jun 28.1 °C 44 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Low 6
12 Jun 27.8 °C 52 % 28 km/h 6.9 mm Low 9
13 Jun 18.4 °C 57 % 45 km/h 0.7 mm Very low 1
14 Jun 22.6 °C 59 % 34 km/h 3.6 mm Very low 2
15 Jun 18.4 °C 53 % 37 km/h 0.8 mm Very low 2
16 Jun 19.9 °C 56 % 52 km/h 5.5 mm Low 5
17 Jun 20.1 °C 50 % 44 km/h 0.3 mm Very low 1
18 Jun 21.3 °C 46 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 4
19 Jun 24.6 °C 47 % 28 km/h 0.1 mm Low 8
20 Jun 25.1 °C 46 % 34 km/h 0.2 mm Moderate 14
21 Jun 27.5 °C 38 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 15
22 Jun 28.9 °C 49 % 41 km/h 0.6 mm High 22
23 Jun 27.2 °C 43 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 17
24 Jun 26.4 °C 42 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 15
25 Jun 25.1 °C 49 % 42 km/h 0.3 mm High 23
26 Jun 24.6 °C 38 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm High 23
27 Jun 27.4 °C 42 % 38 km/h 0.7 mm High 24
28 Jun 27.5 °C 42 % 35 km/h 0.3 mm High 25
29 Jun 30.6 °C 42 % 30 km/h 1.8 mm Moderate 20
30 Jun 28.7 °C 50 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 16
1 Jul 30.3 °C 44 % 19 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 18
2 Jul 31.6 °C 38 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm High 27
3 Jul 28.3 °C 59 % 29 km/h 2.8 mm Moderate 20
4 Jul 23.3 °C 44 % 41 km/h 7.2 mm Very low 5
5 Jul 20.3 °C 55 % 49 km/h 1.2 mm Moderate 12
6 Jul 19.9 °C 52 % 51 km/h 8.4 mm Very low 5
7 Jul 23.8 °C 42 % 49 km/h 2.5 mm Low 6
8 Jul 22.6 °C 61 % 58 km/h 7.7 mm Low 6
9 Jul 21.1 °C 49 % 32 km/h 0.5 mm Very low 2
10 Jul 22.2 °C 57 % 18 km/h 2.2 mm Very low 3
11 Jul 20.1 °C 62 % 24 km/h 6.3 mm Very low 0
12 Jul 22.0 °C 59 % 39 km/h 5.5 mm Very low 0
13 Jul 25.9 °C 65 % 39 km/h 7.9 mm Very low 1
14 Jul 25.9 °C 59 % 42 km/h 2.2 mm Very low 1
15 Jul 27.6 °C 50 % 33 km/h 0.2 mm Very low 2
16 Jul 26.4 °C 44 % 41 km/h 0.1 mm Moderate 11
17 Jul 23.8 °C 34 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 13
18 Jul 25.3 °C 36 % 25 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 13
19 Jul 28.0 °C 37 % 29 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 19
20 Jul 25.7 °C 62 % 35 km/h 12.8 mm Very low 1
21 Jul 24.2 °C 43 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 2
22 Jul 20.6 °C 58 % 45 km/h 0.7 mm Low 7
23 Jul 21.8 °C 50 % 24 km/h 0.2 mm Low 7
24 Jul 22.6 °C 53 % 23 km/h 0.1 mm Low 10
25 Jul 24.8 °C 40 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 14
26 Jul 26.4 °C 40 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 14
27 Jul 29.1 °C 34 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm High 23
28 Jul 20.3 °C 51 % 49 km/h 9.8 mm Very low 2
29 Jul 21.2 °C 49 % 50 km/h 0.1 mm Low 8
30 Jul 24.5 °C 44 % 50 km/h 0.1 mm Moderate 19
31 Jul 27.2 °C 41 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 16
1 Aug 29.6 °C 39 % 16 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 15
2 Aug 31.5 °C 35 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm High 24
3 Aug after 30.0 °C 50 % 20 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 18
4 Aug after 30.8 °C 54 % 22 km/h 0.6 mm Moderate 14
5 Aug after 33.8 °C 40 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 21
6 Aug after 35.4 °C 39 % 16 km/h 0.1 mm Moderate 20
7 Aug after 32.5 °C 48 % 28 km/h 0.3 mm Moderate 21
8 Aug after 24.8 °C 54 % 34 km/h 10.0 mm Very low 4

Its twins: fires that started in the same weather

It started with an FWI of 4.9, a minimum humidity of 41% and 25 days without rain. Fires in the area that started in weather like this since 2020: 17.

FWI at the start 4.9
Minimum humidity 41 %
Days without rain 25
this fire chosen twins rest of the area
Almost identicalSimilar

Outlines of the closest twins

Chornobai fire, March 2025
315 ha 3 days FWI 5.2 Min. humidity 39 % 201 km away, in 2025

First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: 1.6 mm on 12 Mar.

See its page Compare with this fire

What happened to them

3 days
median duration
224 ha
median area
0 %
went past 1,000 ha
1.6 mm
rain at the end (median; 13 of 17 had it)

It stayed below its twins: 139 ha against a median of 224 ha. It lasted 134 days, against 3 days.

In 4 of 17, not even 1 mm fell in the ten days after the end: they went out without rain. In the rest, the first rainy day brought a median of 1.6 mm.

This is a bank of analogues: it shows what usually happens, not what will happen. With fewer than 15 twins we give no figures. How we calculate it

How it ended

10.0 mmfirst rain
8 Aug6 days after it ended
73km/h · max. gust

It was considered over on 2 Aug, and on 8 Aug 10.0 mm fell. We do not know whether the rain or the firefighters put it out. Twins with rain when they ended: 13 of 17, with a median of 1.6 mm.

Weather on this page: Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0) · Copernicus Climate Change Service (ERA5)

How a twin is chosen

  • Same area: fires that have already ended, less than 250 km from this one, since 2020.
  • Same start: we compare the FWI on the first day, the minimum humidity that day and the run of days without rain before it. The slider sets how much they may differ.
  • Only pages with final weather data (ERA5 reanalysis) calculated in the same way as this fire’s; agricultural and grass burns and pages with data under review are left out.
  • Fires burning at the same time as this one (a week before or after) are left out: they share the same spell of weather and do not count as a precedent.
  • They are sorted by similarity, and the outlines of the first five are drawn.

How we calculate it

Before and after, from space

Drag the line to compare the same ground before the fire and after it.

Before · 15 Mar 2026
After · 9 Aug 2026

If the day is cloudy, change the date: each satellite passes once a day. In false colour the burnt ground looks brown or red.

The smoke

CAMS · Copernicus

On 22 March 2026 the air beside the fire reached 22 µg/m³ of PM2.5, but no daily average passed the WHO guideline (15).

PM2.5 peak22 µg/m³
Days over the guideline0 days
PM1031 µg/m³
Optical depth0.40
20 Mar22 Mar24 Mar
Good Fair Moderate Poor Very poor Extremely poor

Particles from the Copernicus CAMS model at the centre of the perimeter; these are not measurements in each town. The pale bar is the worst hour, the solid one the daily average.

Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0) · Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS)

Detections table · 1Every satellite heat detection, one by one, with time, satellite, power and coordinates.
⬇ Download CSV Times in UTC. Each detection is a 375 m pixel: a large fire yields hundreds per pass.
Date and timeSatelliteFRP (MW)LatLon

Other fires nearby

All fires in Ukraine

Frequently asked questions

How long did the Kulykivka fire last?
The official perimeter only gives the start date (22 March 2026). The end comes from the heat detections inside the perimeter: it burned until 2 August 2026 (134 days from 22 March 2026), the last day with detections before more than 10 days in a row without any, so it is approximate.
How much area did it burn?
The perimeter Copernicus measured from satellite imagery is 139 hectares (1.4 km²). Official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire entered 2 municipalities: Kulykivka (125 ha, 0.1 %); Mena (14 ha, 0.0 %).
Did the fire reach a town?
The fire came within 12.3 km of the centre of Mena, the closest of the areas it touched. That is the distance from the perimeter, or the nearest hotspot, to the point marking the centre; it does not mean it entered the houses.
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 31.6 °C, humidity dropped to 20 % and gusts hit 73 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 30, class High.
Where does this data come from?
From the EFFIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Ukraine (geoBoundaries). It is not an official report.
How did the fires that started in similar weather in this area end?
Fires less than 250 km away that started since 2020 with a similar FWI, humidity and dry spell: 17. Their median duration was 3 days and their median area 224 ha; 0 % went past 1,000 ha. In 4 of 17, not even 1 mm fell in the ten days after the end: they went out without rain. In the rest, the first rainy day brought a median of 1.6 mm.

Where to verify it

A satellite detection is not an official report. Final figures and the fire’s status are published by each country’s emergency service.

Emergency number: 101 · 112 · Emergency number and official warnings

Satellite cross-check

History of this page Changes in area, dates, name, official record or merged pages, compared every night since 24 October 2026.

No changes since 24 October 2026.

RSS Changes to this page With cross-checks and a citable version

Does something look wrong on this page?

This page is built from satellite data and official records, and it sometimes gets things wrong: the wrong dates, the wrong town, two fires merged into one, or something that was not a wildfire at all. If you know this fire first-hand (you live nearby, saw it, fought it or reported on it), tell us what really happened and we will check it.

Report an error
What do you think is wrong?

We will only use your email to reply about this report. Privacy. This is not an emergency service: if there is a fire now, call 101 · 112.

How we know this
  • Perimeter: EFFIS (Copernicus), mapped on satellite imagery.
  • The official perimeter has no end date: the end is the last day with VIIRS detections inside the perimeter before a gap of more than 10 days (150 days at most), so it is approximate. One Suomi-NPP VIIRS detection on those dates.
  • We have not matched this page with any official record.
  • Weather: Copernicus ERA5 reanalysis at the fire location, in cells of about 25 km.

How we build fire pages: methodology

Where this data comes from

The perimeter and land cover come from the Copernicus European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS), measured on MODIS and Sentinel-2 imagery and published under CC BY 4.0. Heat detections come from the VIIRS sensors aboard Suomi-NPP and NOAA-20, distributed by NASA FIRMS at 375 m resolution. Municipal boundaries come from geoBoundaries ADM2 (Public Domain). The area per municipality is computed by WorldFires by crossing the perimeter with those boundaries, so it may differ slightly from each country’s official figure.