Moscow was enveloped in smog. The scale of the fires was hidden by the former head of Rosstat

In several districts of Moscow, for the second day in a row, there is smog: west and southwest of Moscow, as well as in the city center. Smoke is observed in the west, south-west and in the center of the capital, residents of the Northern Administrative District also complained about the smell of burning on the morning of August 18.

The Ministry of Emergency Situations in the capital reported that forest fires remain the cause of smoke and the smell of burning in the city. “There is a pungent smell of burning in the air, visibility is worse. The southeast wind, carrying combustion particles from the Ryazan region, will continue in the next 36-48 hours, ”forecaster Yevgeny Tishkovets said in his telegram channel.

The Ministry of Transport of the Moscow Region recommends that drivers be vigilant on the roads. “In Moscow and the Moscow region today, the smell of burning could also be due to fires in the Ryazan region. On some sections of the road, we are seeing a deterioration in visibility. And in addition to such splendor, a steady heat remains – up to +32, ”the department reports.

In the Ryazan region, where the smoke from the fires reaches the capital, on the territory of the Klepikovskiy district and the Kudomskiy district forestry of the Spasskiy district of the region, on August 17, an emergency regime was introduced. The forest fire area in the region as of the morning of August 18 is 181 hectares, the night before, the authorities reported 84.8 hectares.

At the same time, Rosleskhoz pointed out the day before that in the region they tried to eliminate the fire on an area twice as large as the governor said – 185 hectares. The outbreak of 105 hectares was located on the lands of nature reserves.

The department accused the local authorities of concealing the real area of ​​fires. Because of this, it was not possible to immediately attract federal forces to the extinguishing. Now the head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations Alexander Kurenkov flew out to coordinate the extinguishing. Earlier, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said that the city authorities sent 240 rescuers and 78 pieces of equipment to the Ryazan region to assist in extinguishing forest fires.

Prior to his appointment in May 2022 as Acting Governor of the Ryazan Region, Pavel Malkov headed Rosstat for 3.5 years. Elections of the head of the region are scheduled on a single voting day on September 11, 2022.