“Compared to last year, since the beginning of the dangerous season, the number of fires has decreased by 15%,” RIA Novosti quotes him as saying.
At the same time, the area covered by fire was halved, Mishustin said.
He also reminded the heads of regions that the fight against forest fires is the responsibility of local authorities, not the federal center, and set a goal to at least halve the area of forest fires compared to the values for the previous five years.
Over the past day, Russian fire services extinguished 83 natural fires on an area of 101,338 hectares.
Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia has created all the conditions to prevent forest fires, the responsibility for their prevention lies with the regional authorities.
The head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia, Alexander Kurenkov, called for a more serious approach to the prevention and fight against fires in reserves.