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First Il-76 military transport aircraft arrives in Krasnoyarsk to extinguish wildfires

According to the Aerial Forest Protection Service, as of July 31 wildfires are blazing on the territory of nearly 2.8 mln hectares in the control zone (hard to access zone)

© Marina Lystseva/TASS

KRASNOYARSK, August 1. /TASS/. The first military transport aircraft Il-76 has arrived to Krasnoyarsk to join efforts on extinguishing wildfires, the press service of the Central Military District said on Thursday.

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"The first Il-76 landed in Krasnoyarsk. It arrived from Orenburg. The aircraft is equipped with water spillway devices with a capacity of 42 tonnes," the press service said.

An aviation group for assisting in combating wildfires is being assembled in the Krasnoyarsk region from 10 Il-76 aicraft and 10 military helicopters of the Russian Aerospace Defense Forces. The aircraft and helicopters are relocating from Tver, Rostov, Bryansk, Ivanovo, Orenburg, Pskov and Ulyanovsk regions.

According to the Aerial Forest Protection Service, as of July 31 wildfires are blazing on the territory of nearly 2.8 mln hectares in the control zone (hard to access zone). Largest wildfires are registered in Yakutia (1.1 mln hectares), Krasnoyarsk (over 1 mln hectares) and Irkutsk (around 700,000 hectares) regions. Over 2,700 people, 390 units of ground equipment and 28 aircraft are involved in extinguishing wildfires. A state of emergency over forest fires was declared in Irkutsk and Krasnoyarsk regions, as well as in two districts of Buryatia region and one district of Yakutia region.

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