Aircraft Hangars Destroyed As Russian Wildfires Rage
- 14 years ago
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev reprimanded the head of the navy on Wednesday, and sacked several senior naval officers over a major fire at a base outside Moscow.
At least 13 aircraft hangars were destroyed.
[Dmitry Medvedev, Russian President]: (Russian, male)
"What's happened means that officials didn't fulfil their duties, that there was criminal negligence when the fire which has been spreading quite slowly couldn't be localized -- and it is unclear where the commanders of the base were."
The Moscow-based Centre for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies told Reuters the equipment destroyed by the fire at the base included four "extremely expensive" AL-31 engines for Sukhoi-33 aircraft carrier-based jet fighters.
Russia's navy has sought to revive its Soviet-era reach in recent years but has been plagued by disasters, including a tragedy in 2000 when the nuclear-powered submarine Kursk sank, after torpedo explosions on board. All 118 crewmen were killed.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin visited firefighters in the southern region of Voronezh, one of the worst hit.
The death toll from Russia's most deadly wildfires in almost four decades has now risen to 48, as fires raged across areas equal in total to Greater London
Moscow has been shrouded in acrid smoke from forest and peat fires, pushing air quality to a dangerous level.
Critics say changes to Russia's Forest Code pushed through parliament by the Kremlin in 2006 seriously weakened fire defences in the country's vast forests, the world's biggest.
The fires have swept through Russia's tinder-dry forests in the hottest summer since records began 130 years ago, leaving thousands homeless.
A state of emergency has been declared in seven of the worst hit regions.
The record heatwave has engulfed central parts of European Russia since mid June, ruining much of the wheat crop in some areas.
[...]
At least 13 aircraft hangars were destroyed.
[Dmitry Medvedev, Russian President]: (Russian, male)
"What's happened means that officials didn't fulfil their duties, that there was criminal negligence when the fire which has been spreading quite slowly couldn't be localized -- and it is unclear where the commanders of the base were."
The Moscow-based Centre for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies told Reuters the equipment destroyed by the fire at the base included four "extremely expensive" AL-31 engines for Sukhoi-33 aircraft carrier-based jet fighters.
Russia's navy has sought to revive its Soviet-era reach in recent years but has been plagued by disasters, including a tragedy in 2000 when the nuclear-powered submarine Kursk sank, after torpedo explosions on board. All 118 crewmen were killed.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin visited firefighters in the southern region of Voronezh, one of the worst hit.
The death toll from Russia's most deadly wildfires in almost four decades has now risen to 48, as fires raged across areas equal in total to Greater London
Moscow has been shrouded in acrid smoke from forest and peat fires, pushing air quality to a dangerous level.
Critics say changes to Russia's Forest Code pushed through parliament by the Kremlin in 2006 seriously weakened fire defences in the country's vast forests, the world's biggest.
The fires have swept through Russia's tinder-dry forests in the hottest summer since records began 130 years ago, leaving thousands homeless.
A state of emergency has been declared in seven of the worst hit regions.
The record heatwave has engulfed central parts of European Russia since mid June, ruining much of the wheat crop in some areas.
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