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Wildfires threaten 1,000 settlements this year, no major damage

Almost 210,000 specialists combat fires in Siberia, assisted by about 46,000 units of hardware

TOMSK, August 6 (Itar-Tass) — Wildfires in Russia have come close to over 1,000 settlements this year, but there have been no major aftermath, the director of the supervisory department at the Russian Ministry for Emergency Situations, Yuri Deshevykh, told Tass on Monday.

He said “1,048 settlements and 628 infrastructure facilities have been within the dangerous zone. However, owing to measures taken there have been no victims among the population, and infrastructure facilities have not been damaged”.

According to the emergencies ministry, there are 149 wildfires across Russia at the moment. The hardest hit are the Tomsk Region, the Krasnoyarsk Region, Yakutia, Tuva as well as the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area. At the moment there is no threat to local settlements and economic facilities.

Almost 210,000 specialists combat fires in Siberia, assisted by about 46,000 units of hardware. Besides, emergencies ministry’s aircraft are used in fire-fighting efforts.