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Natural Disasters

Russian aircraft to begin firefighting in Serbia on August 20 — group head

Aircraft Commander Andrey Vilkov says the city of Nis "is welcoming us with open arms and wonderful people"

NIS, /Serbia/, August 19. /TASS/. An Il-76 aircraft of the Russian Emergencies Ministry that arrived in the Serbian city of Nis will begin fighting forest fires on Thursday, Aircraft Commander and head of the Russian specialists' group Andrey Vilkov said.

"As in the old good days, Nis is welcoming us with open arms and wonderful people. We arrived today as if we were coming home. Thank you all. We will begin work tomorrow," Vilkov told reporters.

The Russian Emergencies Ministry aircraft landed at Nis airport earlier on Wednesday. It carries a water-dropping device specially designed for use on the Il-76. It can drop up to 42 tons of water on the most intense fire zones, covering an area measuring up to 700 by 65 meters. This capability has earned the Il-76 the nickname "fire bomber."

Serbia is facing a difficult wildfire situation, which prompted local authorities to request assistance from Moscow. Nis is home to the Russian-Serbian Humanitarian Center.

The largest wildfire in Serbia is burning in the Deliblato Sands Special Natural Reserve in the northeast of the country. The blaze has continued since early August. Efforts to extinguish it are complicated by the difficult terrain and the Danube's lowest water level in the past 100 to 150 years. The reserve is on Serbia's UNESCO Tentative List.

Nova TV reported that Bulgaria's Foreign Ministry had authorized the Russian Emergencies Ministry aircraft to cross the country's airspace to assist Serbia in fighting wildfires.

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Natural disasters Serbia

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