Russian forests have been burning for months. At first the situation looked manageable. But now environmentalists are seriously concerned.
Yakutsk – According to environmentalists, the devastating forest fires in Russia could reach historic proportions.
“The situation this time is much worse than in 2020 and the year before,” said Grigori Kuksin from the Greenpeace organization of the German Press Agency in Moscow. In the particularly hard-hit republic of Yakutia in eastern Siberia, “we are already talking about a record since the weather began to be recorded in Russia,” said the fire protection expert. In many regions of the gigantic empire, the flames have been raging unchecked for months.
“To date, the fire has covered an area of around 16.5 million hectares. Not all of it is forest, not all of it is completely dead, ”said Kuksin from Greenpeace in Russia. He assumes that around six million hectares of forest have been destroyed so far. The forest protection authority, on the other hand, speaks of currently around four million hectares (40,000 square kilometers) of burning area. That is roughly the size of Switzerland.
New negative record
The negative record of the century was there in 2012 with an area of 16 million hectares destroyed by fire. This year a new high could be reached, said Kuksin. “The extent of the fires is often underestimated in the regions.” As a result, help is not always requested in good time.
In Yakutia, the emergency services fight to the point of exhaustion to prevent the flames from devouring entire villages. This does not always succeed: in Bjass-Kjuel, around 40 houses were recently destroyed. The authorities have now promised that new ones will be built by October – until winter is just around the corner in the region. In any case, the many helpers are hoping for autumn: when it starts to rain, most fires should then go out on their own.
“Tote Taiga”
“Look, the dead taiga. Everything is burned, not a single green tree for miles, ”said a woman to a reporter for the newspaper“ Komsomolskaya Pravda ”. Residents of Bjass-Kjuel reported that the flames had spread rapidly due to strong winds and that there was therefore no time to, for example, release dogs from their chains and the cattle. How many animals died in agony in the fires is not yet known.
Those who are not directly threatened by the fires still suffer: Hundreds of villages and dozen cities in different parts of the country are drowning in smoke. The smoke has already moved thousands of kilometers to the west into the interior of the country – and in the south to Kazakhstan. It could lead to severe courses of corona diseases and higher mortality, said Kuksin about the consequences. The authorities recommend staying indoors if possible.
Putin orders help
There are now more than 9,000 helpers in the fight against the flames. President Vladimir Putin had ordered an increase in the face of the disaster. He also sent his Minister for Civil Protection, Yevgeny Zinichev, to Yakutia to personally coordinate the operations there. The authorities blame the fires on the drought as a result of climate change.
“Without an increase in funds for forest protection, it will not be possible to fight fires under the new climatic conditions,” said environmental activist Kuksin. In addition, people should be made more aware of the dangers. “Most fires are still caused by humans.” For example, it is common for grass to be burned down or for cigarette butts to be simply thrown away. dpa
