Nikolai Rogozhkin, the Presidential Envoy in Russia’s Siberian Federal District, suspects the political opposition may be responsible for the wildfires sweeping across eastern Siberia. He also said that he expects those who suffered from the fires to start cleaning up the damage themselves.
At a meeting with local journalists, Rogozhkin stated that he is puzzled by the fact that fires are starting simultaneously in various parts of the region, including very remote areas, which are “impossible to reach even if you’ve had training.” He speculated: “let’s say there is a sabotage group out there, and they are instantaneously starting the fires.”
“This is not your standard situation. Forest fires are starting simultaneously in different parts of the woods. I don’t know how this is possible, and I’m ready to hear out specialists, scientists, even shamans,” added Rogozhkin during the meeting in Chita, the administrative center of Zabaykalsky region of eastern Siberia, where the latest fires have been raging.
Rogozhkin also met with people who lost their homes to the fires and proposed that they start organizing themselves to clean up the areas damaged by the flames.
“The governor and I won’t be able to come to everybody. Take this house, and say it burned down. Well, what about the man, the son, the wife, the daughter-in-law – why don’t all of you salvage what’s left and use it? You can even pick out the metal and recycle it. But no, they want us to do it for them. I’m sorry, but that’s just wrong - it’s so cynical,” said the Presidential Envoy.
According to the Presidential Envoy, there is a group of trained opposition members working in the region.
The fires are sweeping across Russia’s eastern Siberian Zabaykalsky region, which borders Mongolia. According regional state forest officials, on April 17 fires spread across 121,100 hectares (about 299,000 acres).
The death toll has risen to 30 people, and 500 people are injured. Over 1,300 homes have burned down, and 5,000 people are currently left without roofs over their heads.
See also: Engulfed by Flames — Forest fires are sweeping across Russia’s eastern Siberia
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