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WILDFIRES IN SIBERIA AND FAR EAST

Firefighters curb expansion rate of Siberian, Far Eastern wildfires five-fold

During the past day, fire fighters managed to eliminate 19 sources of fire

© Avialesookhrana/TASS

MOSCOW, August 2. /TASS/. The expansion rate of the Siberian and the Far Eastern forest fires has been curbed five-fold, the Emergencies Ministry’s press service told TASS.

Today, 388 wildfire sources are still active in the Sakha, Irkutsk and Krasnoyarsk Regions. During the past day, fire fighters managed to eliminate 19 sources of fire. "The daily growth of the areas of wildfires in three Russian regions has decreased more than five times," the Emergencies Ministry said.

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Wildfire smoke covers over 600 populated areas in Russia’s Far East and Siberia

On Friday, the emergencies minister held a special session of the government commission on emergencies where the forest fire situation was studied. First Deputy Emergencies Minister Alexander Chupriyan, who was in the Krasnoyarsk Region, reported that there is inconsiderable positive dynamics in the decrease of the number of sources of active fires.

The Emergencies Ministry said that there is no threat to communities and economic facilities. Three forest fires in the five-kilometer zone from the communities are under special control. Two of them are in the Krasnoyarsk Region and one is in the Irkutsk Region.

According to the Emergencies Ministry, the most difficult situation with forest fires is in the Sakha, Yakutia, Trans-Baikal, Krasnoyarsk and Irkutsk Regions where there is smoke in 618 communities. According to the latest information provided by the Aerial Forest Fire Center, more than 3 million hectares of forest are ablaze.

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Russia to retaliate against Ukrainian strikes, just as Putin said — Kremlin

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