Natural disasters ' unprecedented' | Vladimir Putin is worried

 

Natural disasters ' unprecedented' | Vladimir Putin is worried

 Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday expressed concern over natural disasters of "absolutely unprecedented" proportions in Russia in the face of devastating forest fires in Siberia and floods in the south.

At the invitation of regional officials via video link, the Russian president urged the government to help residents of Siberian regions affected by violent wildfires exacerbated by drought or floods in the south of the country.

In Yakutia (Siberia), the largest and coldest region of Russia, this summer, forest fires destroyed an area larger than the size of Portugal.

Russian scientists and environmentalists have proven that the current fires are, in fact, the result of climate change and global warming.

The Russian president urged the authorities to evacuate more people - especially the elderly - in the areas affected by the fire and provide them with economic support.

He also called on regional officials to identify the damage caused by the fires and plan to rebuild homes.

Regional officials asked Moscow for reinforcements and economic aid to repair the damage caused by these disasters.

Aysen Nikolaev, President of Yakutia, also stated that the scale of the fires that hit the region was "the first in history." He also called for measures to support the damage to crops.

This week, Russian authorities commissioned a special operations center to fight fires in Siberia and mobilized more firefighters.

Siberia has been badly affected by many forest fires.

The governor of the Krasnodar Territory (south), Veniamin Kondratiev, confirmed that the region "received the same rainfall in one day, which is usually within a year."

In Crimea, which Russia annexed at Ukraine's expense in 2014, local leader Sergei Aksyonov said two people had died in the floods, and more than 3,000 people had asked for help from the authorities.

Vladimir Putin has been known for years as a climate skeptic, arguing that Russia would benefit from climate change.

However, the Russian president attended a summit hosted by US President Joe Biden earlier this year and expressed interest in "international cooperation" on climate change.