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Nearly 160 wildfires broke out in Russia in a week

According to the Emergencies Ministry, the fires broke out in 17 Russian regions

© Alexandr Kolbasov/TASS

MOSCOW, April 8. /TASS/. Nearly 160 wildfires broke out in Russia in the past week, which have scorched a total area of over 40,000 hectares, as was announced at a conference call chaired by First Deputy Emergencies Minister Alexander Chupriyan, the Ministry’s press service said in a statement on Monday.

"Over the past week, as many as 157 wildfires broke out in 17 Russian regions located in the Far East, Siberia, the Urals, the Northwestern, Southern and Central Federal Districts. The fires have scorched a total area of more than 40,000 hectares," the statement reads.

According to Russia’s Federal Forestry Agency, there are 14 wildfires engulfing over 5,000 hectares in the country’s Far East. "The fires pose no danger to populated localities, activities to extinguish the wildfires are underway," the Emergencies Ministry added.

First Deputy Emergencies Minister Alexander Chupriyan highlighted the need to take measures to prevent wildfires, particularly imposing a ban on the burning of dry grass.

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