Russian Firefighting Plane Joins Serbia's Battle Against Wildfires
Serbia said the Russian aircraft will bolster firefighting capacity as EU planes were unavailable, with officials citing weeks of fires in a protected reserve.
- On Thursday, a Russian Emergencies Ministry IL-76P firefighting plane deployed to the Deliblatska Pescara natural protected reserve after arriving in Nis on Wednesday following instructions from Russian President Vladimir Putin.
- Interior Ministry official Luka Causic stated that no European Union firefighting aircraft of this capacity are available, making the Russian plane essential as wildfires across Europe have sapped resources.
- The aircraft crossed airspace of European Union and NATO member Bulgaria following Belgrade's request. Humanitarian aid missions remain exempt from sanctions imposed over the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, allowing the Russian plane passage.
- Serbia's acceptance of Russian assistance reflects its balancing act between Russia and the European Union, which it seeks to join. Despite Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's recent visit, Belgrade has not joined sanctions against Russia.
- Although Serbia is not an European Union member, it retains access to emergency aid through the bloc's Civil Protection Mechanism. Earlier this summer, Belgrade dispatched its own firefighting teams to help Spain combat wildfires.
24 Articles
24 Articles
A forest fire that has been raging for weeks in a vast Serbian nature reserve forced evacuations on Thursday, state media reported, with firefighters being helped by a Russian firefighting plane to extinguish the flames.
Serbia has resorted to Russia in search of help in fighting forest fires, due to the lack of aircraft available in the European Union, the Ministry of the Interior has informed. Read also: Attacks of Russia kill 17 in Ukraine; Zelensky says that lack of Patriot missiles costs lives North Korea launches series of missiles after rejecting the approach of Trump Extremely dry heat waves and causes billionary losses in Europe An IL-76P fire fighter a…
Emergency aid with major political implications: Serbia is receiving assistance from Russia in combating a massive wildfire east of the capital Belgrade. This comes despite the fact that Brussels had also offered to help the EU candidate member. Moreover, the Russian firefighting aircraft required special permission on Wednesday to fly over EU territory to Serbia. After all, the airspace over the EU is closed to Russian aircraft due to sanctions…
The fire burned more than 3,600 hectares of vegetation in the Delibatska Pescara Nature Reserve in 15 days, and another 20 fires are raging in the country.
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