Wildfires being recorded ever more often in Arctic - Russian emergencies minister

DURBAN, South Africa. Sept 8 (Interfax) - Over 11,000 wildfires have been recorded since early 2023 in Russia, where fires in the Arctic area have also been registered with increasing frequency, Russian Emergency Situations Minister Alexander Kurenkov said.

"More than 11,000 wildfires have been recorded this year. Fires have been registered ever more often in the Arctic area recently," Kurenkov said at a meeting of the BRICS working group on disaster management.

Russia's Far East and southern regions encounter large-scale flash floods every year, the minister said.

"Seventy-one populated localities were inundated as a result of Typhoon Lan and Typhoon Khanun in August-September. More than 4,500 people were evacuated from them," he said.