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Mr Medvedev spoke by telephone with Governor of Voronezh Region Alexei Gordeyev, Governor of Nizhny Novgorod Region Valery Shantsev, Governor of Vladimir Region Nikolai Vinogradov, Governor of Ryazan Region Oleg Kovalev, and Head of Karelia Andrei Nelidov.

The regional heads briefed the President on the current situation and the measures being taken to bring the fires under control and help those affected. Coordination of work between the local authorities, the Emergency Situations Ministry and the Defence Ministry was also discussed.

Mr Medvedev noted that the governors must act as rapidly as possible to assess the extent of the damage caused by the fires and start paying out compensation to those affected. The President also discussed with the regional heads the matter of providing temporary shelter to people who have lost their homes in the fires.

A separate issue discussed during the telephone calls concerned the possibility of evacuating children to regions not affected by the fires, and the international aid offers that have been made in this respect. Mr Medvedev thanked Germany, in particular, for its proposal to take in children from the fire-affected Russian regions.