Russia on fire: instead of help from Kremlin, people pray for rain
russia is experiencing the largest natural wildfires in the last 7 years — since the beginning of the year, more than 4.3 million hectares have burned, which is equivalent to the size of Denmark. The worst situation is in the zabaykalsky region, where fire has destroyed over 2.2 million hectares, and the scale of the disaster continues to grow.
▫️ central russian media give little attention to the issue of the massive fires. Meanwhile, coverage in regional publications reveals a distorted perception of reality — “photo sessions” of officials at the site of supposedly successful firefighting efforts are combined with complaints from the same officials about the catastrophic lack of equipment and personnel. At the same time, apocalyptic footage of smoky highways and the completely burned-down children’s camp “ogonok” absurdly contrasts with news about the grand opening of another camp. The cherry on top — hundreds of people gathered on the riverbank to perform a Buddhist ritual to summon rain.
The situation with the fires once again shows that kremlin is little concerned with protecting its own citizens. While the fire consumes larger areas, moscow is funneling all resources into the war. Residents of fire-stricken regions understand that they are more likely to wait for rain after prayers than receive help from the government.
