Russia: Putin worries about natural disasters of "unprecedented" magnitude
This aerial photo, taken from an airplane on July 27, 2021, shows smoke rising from a forest fire outside the village of Berdigestyakh in the Republic of Sakha, Siberia.
AFP - DIMITAR DILKOFF
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
Russian President Vladimir Poutine expressed concern on Saturday August 14 about natural disasters of "
absolutely unprecedented
" magnitude
in Russia, faced with devastating forest fires in Siberia and flooding in the South.
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With our correspondent in Moscow
,
Jean Didier Revoin
Vladimir Putin spoke this afternoon to urge the government to act against the particularly severe natural disasters that Russia is experiencing this summer.
The opportunity for the Russian president to shine the spotlight on the objectives set out in his speech to Parliament last April.
Since the beginning of the year, over the whole of Russia, an area larger than that of Greece has already gone up in smoke and at the same time, the south of the country has experienced severe flooding.
Almost 100,000 people are still without electricity.
Noting the exceptional nature of these disturbances, Vladimir Putin therefore called on the government to act quickly and effectively in the face of the ecological crisis.
But it is also an opportunity for him to go back on the promise made to parliamentarians last April to fight against climate change.
Vladimir Poutine had made a commitment to adapt agriculture, industry, housing… In short, the entire infrastructure to the challenges posed by global warming.
A promising electoral issue, because citizens are mobilizing for the preservation of the environment, especially since one month before the legislative elections, they must show that they are taking action and care about those who suffer the effects of natural disasters.
It remains to be seen in what form and in what timeframe these promises will be fulfilled.
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Russia
Environment
Climate change
Natural disasters