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Before the meeting, Vladimir Putin inspected, aboard a helicopter, the areas in the Chelyabinsk Region that were hit by wildfires in July 2021. He was accompanied by Emergencies Minister Yevgeny Zinichev, Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Urals Federal District Vladimir Yakushev and Chelyabinsk Region Governor Alexei Teksler.

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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, colleagues.

Greetings to all of you.

Recently, two weeks ago, we discussed the wildfires in different parts of Russia with the Government.

As you know, many regions have been hit by this disaster due to record heat and drought. The situation was particularly bad in Yakutia, Karelia, the Krasnoyarsk Territory, and the Irkutsk and Tyumen regions. The Chelyabinsk Region was also affected.

We flew by helicopter over several areas that were hit by the wildfires and, unfortunately, there were casualties.

Also, I would of course like to hear and discuss what is being done about the floods. The minister [Yevgeny Zinichev] reported, while we were moving from one place to another, that the situation here is not simple, either. So, we need to look at all this very carefully.

It is clear that we have learned to respond promptly to any emergencies but there are still failures and people suffer. Today, as usual in such cases, we need to primarily talk about what has been done to support these people and how promptly the relevant decisions can be made.

In principle, we have the right regulations and a system for taking administrative action. That said, every incident and disaster is unique. I am saying that in every region where people encounter a disaster, they have their own problems and conditions that require attention related to the specifics of the territory, the region and the infrastructure.

There are also questions about the organisation and management of forestry.

Let’s discuss all these issues today.

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