Russian forests have been burning for months. At first the situation looked manageable. But now environmentalists are seriously concerned. President Putin speaks of an unprecedented scale.
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.
Putin: “Unprecedented extent”
Russian President Vladimir Putin described the extent of natural disasters in his country as unprecedented. The authorities in the regions must be prepared to bring people to safety if necessary, said the head of state on Saturday, according to the Interfax agency. “First and foremost, it is about saving the life and health of people and their property.”
In view of the devastating forest fires, Putin warned of the danger of smoke for the elderly and the sick. In addition, the damage to the taiga, which is important for the global climate, and in other forests must be minimized. Plans should also be drawn up for the reconstruction of destroyed and damaged houses, he said.
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.
Fires on an area the size of Switzerland
On Saturday, the forest protection authority reported 252 fires across the country on a total area of 4.2 million hectares. That corresponds roughly to the area of Switzerland. Most of the fires rage in the republic of Yakutia in eastern Siberia. In southern Russia, after heavy rain, there are floods along the Black Sea coast. Floods are also reported in areas in the far east of the country.
“This shows once again how important it is for us to deal intensively and systematically with climate and environmental issues,” said Putin. He recently announced a significant reduction in greenhouse gases. Russia is particularly struggling with the consequences of the thawing permafrost. In the past few years there have been repeated huge forest fires in the summer months. dpa
