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

Tolstoy Bilingual

Tolstoy Bilingual

This compact, yet surprisingly broad look at the life and work of Tolstoy spans from one of his earliest stories to one of his last, looking at works that made him famous and others that made him notorious. 
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.
Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

This is the work that made Chekhov, launching his career as a writer and playwright of national and international renown. Retranslated and updated, this new bilingual edition is a super way to improve your Russian.
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.  
Chekhov Bilingual

Chekhov Bilingual

Some of Chekhov's most beloved stories, with English and accented Russian on facing pages throughout. 
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.
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.
The Samovar Murders

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.
Okudzhava Bilingual

Okudzhava Bilingual

Poems, songs and autobiographical sketches by Bulat Okudzhava, the king of the Russian bards. 
Survival Russian

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.
A Taste of Chekhov

A Taste of Chekhov

This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.

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