The forest fires in eastern Russia continue to rage – an improvement in the situation is not in sight. Greenpeace believes the situation across the country is much worse than the authorities say.
Yakutsk – The serious forest fires in eastern Russia cannot be extinguished so quickly, according to environmentalists.
“Large areas in Yakutia have already been hit by fires. Only rain helps here, ”said fire protection expert Grigori Kuksin from the environmental organization Greenpeace in Russia to the Interfax agency. It is unlikely that the situation in the particularly affected Siberian region of Yakutia (Republic of Sakha) will improve before mid-August. Most of the forest fires are currently raging there in the largest country in the world in terms of area.
According to the regional authorities, the fire brigade in Yakutia has counted 205 fires. According to data from the protection authority, the area of fire on which the fire is being extinguished is around 680,000 hectares, slightly smaller than the day before. This corresponds to about half of the area of Schleswig-Holstein. 2100 firefighters are in action. They want to prevent the flames from spreading to villages.
Greenpeace believes the situation across the country is much worse than the authorities say. Satellite data show that a total of three million hectares is currently burning in Russia. In the statistics of the forest protection authority, however, there is talk of around two million.
Many settlements and cities in Russia are struggling with smoke from the fires, according to Greenpeace. In the Yakutia region, the concentration of dangerous substances in the air is significantly higher than allowed, said Kuksin. Many forest fires were triggered by negligence, for example because campfires got out of control or cigarettes were carelessly thrown away. dpa
