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Over 5,000 forest fires recorded in Russia since the start of 2020, official says

Efforts to upgrade firefighting equipment made it possible to reduce the average scope of forest fires by nearly 50 hectares

© Press Office of the Russian Central Military District/TASS

MOSCOW, May 19. /TASS/. Over 5,000 forest fires have been recorded in Russia since the beginning of the year, Federal Forestry Agency Chief Sergei Anopriyenko said during an online hearing of the State Duma (the lower house of parliament), which was dedicated to the forest fire situation.

"A little more than 5,000 forest fires have occurred in the country since the beginning of the year. The blazes have scorched 770,000 hectares compared to 923,000 hectares in 2019," Anopriyenko pointed out.

According to him, a spike in forest fires was seen in late March and early April. "There are two reasons: an unusual heat wave in some of the Siberian regions and self-isolation," the official explained.

Efforts to upgrade firefighting equipment made it possible to reduce the average scope of forest fires by nearly 50 hectares, he went on to say. "We can see that the average scope of forest fires has been brought down to 150 hectares from nearly 200 hectares last year," Anopriyenko noted.

Azerbaijan Airlines states its passenger jet crashed due to external mechanical damage

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Han Duck-soo vowed that he would step down "in accordance with the law so as not to add chaos" to the country’s politics

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Parliament impeaches South Korean acting president

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Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency investigates passenger jet’s crash near Aktau

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US disrupts payment of Russian contribution to ICRC budget — Foreign Ministry

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Crew of plane that crashed in Kazakhstan lost control due to system failure

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Yemen’s Houthis launch missile attack on Israel's Ben Gurion Airport — spokesman

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Press review: US, Israel aim to curb Turkey’s gains while Moscow, Tehran strengthen ties

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The Cordelia Moon is 274 meters long and 50 meters wide

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Finnish police detain oil tanker on suspicion of damaging communication cables

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Canadian ministers going to US for consultations with Trump’s administration — TV

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Press review: Putin outlines Russia's future goals and Tehran faces energy blackout riots

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Armored vehicle with Israeli commanding officers blown up in West Bank

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Thailand accepts invitation to become BRICS partner state — MFA

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Trump's words on Greenland escalate tensions in the Arctic — Russian ambassador to Norway

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Syrian army’s weapons seized by terrorists — Iraq’s PM

Mohammed Al Sudani stressed that Baghdad respects the will of the Syrian people, hoping for progress toward a comprehensive political process

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Lukashenko says he discussed gas supplies to Europe with Putin, Russia ready to sell them

The Belarusian leader believes that Germany should restore relations with Russia for the sake of its own economy

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Zelensky defines essence of next summit on Ukraine in four-letter explicit word — Lavrov

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Russian MFA denies reports of talks with Baku, Astana on plane crash near Aktau

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Russia 10 years ahead of whole world with research into 4th generation nuclear power

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Europe must be punished, US ignored after hybrid war between West, Russia — Medvedev

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US requires a large fleet of drones for future wars, Musk says

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Russia persuades most states it is essential to address causes of Ukrainian crisis — MFA

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NATO to boost military presence in Baltic Sea following cable incidents — Rutte

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Russia not setting preconditions for talks on Ukraine — Lavrov

The foreign minister stressed that Russia was deceived "when they stated that NATO would not expand eastwards and when they emphasized their commitment to resolve [the conflict] based on the UN Charter"

Press review: Middle East may host Putin-Trump talks as experts probe Kazakhstan crash

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