24 Aug 2022 13:23

Arson causes some of wildfires in Russian Central Federal District - Natural Resources and Environment Ministry

MOSCOW. Aug 24 (Interfax) - Some of the wildfires raging in the Central Federal District, including the Ryazan region, are a result of arson, and information about such incidents has been directed to the Russian Interior Ministry, Natural Resources and Environment Minister Alexander Kozlov said on Wednesday.

"What's happing in the Central Federal District is not entirely the fault of heat lightning, hot weather and lack of precipitation. There are also facts of arson having been committed; we have seen this in the Ryazan region today, so we are working together with the Interior Ministry and have submitted respective documents," Kozlov said at a meeting of Russian President Vladimir Putin with government agencies on the containment of wildfires.

Nearly 7,500 officers of the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry and Moscow firefighters, in addition to 16 aircraft, are putting out fires in the Ryazan region, he said.

"According to Roshydromet, smoke from fires in the Nizhny Novgorod has not and is not billowing towards Moscow, yet smog is coming from the Ryazan region due to the prevailing winds," Kozlov said.