Moscow has been blanketed in
thick noxious smog and some fear forest fires were left to rage because
officials were too scared to tell Vladimir Putin.
Claims say regional officials
were too scared to admit to Russian President Vladimir Putin the
scale of the forest infernos.
The pollution was also made
worse because a large number of firefighters were deployed to the war in Ukraine,
says state media.
A thick cloud of pungent smog
descended on the Russian capital as temperatures hit close to 30 degrees
centigrade.
St Basil’s Cathedral and other
landmarks were shrouded in smoke and became absent from the skyline.
Authorities in the Russian
capital advised residents to wear face masks to protect themselves from the
smog and The Federal Forestry Agency (Rosleskhoz) blamed authorities in the
Ryazan region for failing to keep the fires under control.
In the Ryazan region,
southeast of the city, forest fires have been burning out of control.
The emergency ministry said on
Telegram that close to 500 people were working to put out the fires and the
region’s Governor, Pavel Malkov, estimated that over 800 hectares had been
affected by the fires.
Other infernos are ablaze in
the Vladimir, Ivanovo and Nizhny Novgorod regions, in a situation Greenpeace
called catastrophic due to “extreme heat and drought”.
Environmentalists say regional
officials routinely downplay the scale of fires, fearing they will be blamed by
the Kremlin even though they do not have the resources to fight the blazes.
Now fires that could have been
halted are out of control with choking smoke blanketing Moscow.
The Federal Forestry Agency
directly blamed Ryazan regional officials for “concealment” of the scale of the
forest fires until it was too late.
