May 18, 2023

Russia is on Fire


Russia is on Fire
Firemen smother fire in Orekhovo-Zuyevo, Moscow region. Mikhail Mironov, Commons:RIA Novosti

Wildfires have been raging in Russia for months. Eight Regions have declared states of emergency. According to Agentstvo and Greenpeace, 5 million hectares are burning, comparable to the land mass of Slovakia or Denmark. At the same time, authorities underestimate the data on fires by a factor of eight, and for some regions, official data is underestimated by a factor of 200. According to satellite imagery, fires have consumed 1.5 million hectares in Omsk Oblast, while authorities have only admitted to the burning of 7.7 thousand hectares. 

Nastoyashee Vremya reports that the most difficult situation with fires is in the Urals and Siberia. 60 wildfires were recorded in Kurgan Oblast, where authorities had to evacuate residents of several villages and towns in the suburbs of Kurgan, the region's capital. And it is not only firefighters who are involved in extinguishing fires – military and volunteers are also in the mix.

In Sverdlovsk Oblast, more than 60 fires are raging, and this is the second wave of wildfires the region has seen since the beginning of the year. At the end of April, 178 buildings burned down in the region. 

The authorities attribute most fires to careless public attitudes to fire and how hot weather and wind contribute to its rapid spread. According to Greenpeace, the wildfires are also due to a lack of financing, specialists, equipment, and cooperation between different regions.

At the same time, according to the Telegram channel of journalist Dmitry Kolezev, residents of affected regions are looking for a Ukrainian connection in the fires and are actively looking for saboteurs.

In Irbit (Sverdlovsk Oblast), local residents were madly hunting for a gray pickup truck, and posts appeared on the social network VKontakte saying that 70 cars had come from Ukraine to “fire missiles” at forests. Yet, given that Russia's border with Ukraine is about 2,200 kilometers away, the baseless rumors demonstrate the country's growing and irrational obsession with spies and saboteurs.

You Might Also Like

No Money, Only War
  • March 29, 2023

No Money, Only War

Russian authorities blame the "special military operation" for the disruption of infrastructural and social projects.
A Year of Decline
  • December 31, 2022

A Year of Decline

Russia’s War on Ukraine is exacting deep and enduring economic and social costs on the country.
Fields of Poison
  • December 29, 2022

Fields of Poison

Thousands of endangered birds and other animals have been poisoned with an illegal pesticide in Stavropol Krai.
Not in the Job Description
  • December 13, 2022

Not in the Job Description

The director of a nature reserve near Novosibirsk has been arrested for illegally hunting inside his park.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

A Taste of Russia

A Taste of Russia

The definitive modern cookbook on Russian cuisine has been totally updated and redesigned in a 30th Anniversary Edition. Layering superbly researched recipes with informative essays on the dishes' rich historical and cultural context, A Taste of Russia includes over 200 recipes on everything from borshch to blini, from Salmon Coulibiac to Beef Stew with Rum, from Marinated Mushrooms to Walnut-honey Filled Pies. A Taste of Russia shows off the best that Russian cooking has to offer. Full of great quotes from Russian literature about Russian food and designed in a convenient wide format that stays open during use.
Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.
Marooned in Moscow

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.
Fish: A History of One Migration

Fish: A History of One Migration

This mesmerizing novel from one of Russia’s most important modern authors traces the life journey of a selfless Russian everywoman. In the wake of the Soviet breakup, inexorable forces drag Vera across the breadth of the Russian empire. Facing a relentless onslaught of human and social trials, she swims against the current of life, countering adversity and pain with compassion and hope, in many ways personifying Mother Russia’s torment and resilience amid the Soviet disintegration.
Russian Rules

Russian Rules

From the shores of the White Sea to Moscow and the Northern Caucasus, Russian Rules is a high-speed thriller based on actual events, terrifying possibilities, and some really stupid decisions.
Woe From Wit (bilingual)

Woe From Wit (bilingual)

One of the most famous works of Russian literature, the four-act comedy in verse Woe from Wit skewers staid, nineteenth century Russian society, and it positively teems with “winged phrases” that are essential colloquialisms for students of Russian and Russian culture.
Okudzhava Bilingual

Okudzhava Bilingual

Poems, songs and autobiographical sketches by Bulat Okudzhava, the king of the Russian bards. 
The Little Golden Calf

The Little Golden Calf

Our edition of The Little Golden Calf, one of the greatest Russian satires ever, is the first new translation of this classic novel in nearly fifty years. It is also the first unabridged, uncensored English translation ever, and is 100% true to the original 1931 serial publication in the Russian journal 30 Dnei. Anne O. Fisher’s translation is copiously annotated, and includes an introduction by Alexandra Ilf, the daughter of one of the book’s two co-authors.
Murder at the Dacha

Murder at the Dacha

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin has a problem. Several, actually. Not the least of them is the fact that a powerful Soviet boss has been murdered, and Matyushkin's surly commander has given him an unreasonably short time frame to close the case.
Murder and the Muse

Murder and the Muse

KGB Chief Andropov has tapped Matyushkin to solve a brazen jewel heist from Picasso’s wife at the posh Metropole Hotel. But when the case bleeds over into murder, machinations, and international intrigue, not everyone is eager to see where the clues might lead.
White Magic

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.
The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

This exciting new trilogy by a Russian author – who has been compared to Orhan Pamuk and Umberto Eco – vividly recreates a lost world, yet its passions and characters are entirely relevant to the present day. Full of mystery, memorable characters, and non-stop adventure, The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas is a must read for lovers of historical fiction and international thrillers.  

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955