Moscow’s mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, outlined a proposal to elevate forest-fire response to the federal level and to compel neighboring regions to supply the necessary equipment and personnel for firefighting. The suggestion was presented during a meeting with the nation’s leadership focused on eliminating fires that threaten specific federal subjects, underscoring the urgency of coordinated action at the top level of government.
The district leadership emphasized that, at present, the federal response is not always activated when fires begin on a given territory. He pointed out that smoke can travel across distances, sometimes reaching up to 400 kilometers and affecting nearby areas, which complicates the situation and widens the circle of affected regions.
“Today, about 20 million people from other regions are affected or threatened by smoke emanating from the Ryazan region, and the visibility is periodically reduced. Therefore, it is essential to adopt official federal decisions that authorize not only declarations or wishes but also the obligation for neighboring areas to provide the needed equipment and personnel to extinguish fires promptly,” Sobyanin stated. The remarks were reported by officials present at the meeting (source attribution: official statements from the city administration).
The mayor of Moscow also called for preventive measures to reduce forest-fire risks in zones that lie within densely populated districts. He reminded listeners that a similar approach had been used in Moscow and its surrounding region back in 2010, highlighting a precedent for proactive intervention in high-risk areas.
Sobyanin stressed that the capital region stands ready to assist with the implementation of these preventive and emergency measures, should decisions be made to apply them elsewhere. He cited concrete deployments as evidence of readiness, noting that on the eve of a major operation, Moscow allocated substantial resources to the Ryazan region to support firefighting efforts.
Specifically, the city directed 8,700 personnel to the Ryazan region, supplied 2,386 units of equipment, and included six helicopters and 28 heavy bulldozers among the assets available to support the firefighting mission. The overall intent was to strengthen on-the-ground capability in areas where fires have the potential to spread rapidly and threaten populated zones.
Officials described how crown fires have the tendency to leap beyond mineralized barriers that had been laid previously, complicating containment efforts. In recent days, fire fronts had advanced several kilometers farther to the north. Yet, a trend toward greater controllability was noted, with expectations that localization and suppression could be achieved within a day or two, according to statements from the authorities responsible for the response plan (attribution: operational headquarters communications).
It is important to recall that, on August 23, Sobyanin visited the Ryazan region to oversee the emergency response in person and to participate in the meeting of the operational headquarters dedicated to extinguishing the fires. The head of the regional administration personally supervised rescue operations in the regional capital and directed the allocation of additional forces and resources to strengthen the firefighting effort, in coordination with central authorities and regional partners (official meeting records and regional updates).