Serbia has turned to Russia for help in extinguishing fires in the country because the European Union (EU) lacked available planes, "Reuters" reported, citing the Serbian Interior Ministry.
This summer, Belgrade sent a firefighting helicopter and an emergency response team to help Spain deal with forest fires under this mechanism, but fires across Europe have exhausted EU resources.
Luka Čašić, head of the Serbian Interior Ministry's emergency department, said that there were no firefighting planes with such capacity available within the EU, and the Russian plane would significantly strengthen the capabilities to fight the fires.
We recall that on August 19, the Russian Il-76 aircraft flew over Bulgarian airspace on its way to Serbia, where it joined the fight against fires, landing in the city of Niš.
A ban on flights in European airspace is in force for Russian aircraft under sanctions imposed due to the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but an exception is made for humanitarian aid.
On August 18, due to the fires in Serbia, there was smoke in the Sofia and Pernik regions.