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Vladimir Putin thanked the rescuers of the Ministry of Civil Defense, Emergencies and Disaster Relief for their professional actions in South-East Asian countries which suffered from the tsunami.

The President mentioned that Russia was one of the first to provide aid to countries which suffered. The coordinated actions of the Emergency Ministry and the Defense Ministry made it possible to send over 600 tons of cargo to the affected regions in a short time, to mobilise hospitals, and provide medical aid to over 4,000 local residents, more than 1,500 of them children.

During the video link with Sri Lanka, the head of the mobile air hospital deployed in this country, Aleksandr Ivanyus’, reported the humanitarian situation on the island to the President. Mr Putin allowed the Defence Ministry to give Indonesia the military hospital delivered to this country by Russian soldiers to provide medical assistance to Indonesians who suffered in the tsunami.

Before the meeting, the President visited the operations duty desk of the Emergency Ministry headquarters. The head of the operations department of the Emergency Ministry, colonel-general Gennady Korotkin, reported the current operations situation on the territory of Russia to the President.

Mr Putin said that Russia needs an effective system for predicting natural disasters, and ordered the Government to correct plans for modernising the national system for predicting natural disasters.