In the Khanty-Mansiysk Okrug, the situation with forest fires is not under control. The woodland is ablaze, and the leader of the area, Natalia Komarova, is either unable or unwilling to take action, stating that the heat and "dry thunderstorms" are the cause.
In Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, Rospotrebnadzor declared a significant excess of carbon monoxide levels. The area affected by forest fires is expanding in the region, and a state of emergency has been in place for a week.
A journalist from The Moscow Post in Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug investigated the situation.
Merciless fire
On August 2, Yugra Governor Natalia Komarova issued an order to declare a state of emergency in the region due to forest fires. Interestingly, a state of emergency had already been declared in the district on July 22, but it was lifted a week later due to the supposedly normal fire situation.
Rospotrebnadzor reported an excess of the allowable levels of carbon monoxide in Beloyarsky. Elevated levels of harmful substances were also found in the atmosphere of the village of Nyagan.
During this time, the governor of Yugra, Natalya Komarova, did not provide any commentary on the situation until August 8, when she cited abnormally high air temperatures, lack of rain, and strong winds along with "dry" thunderstorms as the causes of the widespread forest fires in the region.
There are currently 65 active areas of natural fires covering a total of 84,082 hectares in the region. However, Greenpeace asserts that the area affected by forest fires in Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug could be three times larger than what the authorities claim. According to them, "the situation is clearly out of control", and biologists estimate that it will take 75 to 90 years to restore the ecosystem in the burning forests of Yugra.
Official anomalies
Public activists do not believe that this is solely due to natural events. For instance, Yugorsk Duma Deputy Anton Pantin initiated a petition calling for the resignation of Yugra Governor Natalia Komarova. He believes that the inconsistency of the regional authorities' actions is the main issue.
Pantin emphasizes that while the head of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug implemented and then lifted emergency situations, valuable time was lost that could have been used to combat the fires.
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He also pointed out that when Komarova, as a deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, was directly involved in the development of the Forest Code of the Russian Federation, which led to the reorganization of forest protection and fire prevention services.
"While Yugra is engulfed in flames, nature reserves are being devastated, and people are suffering from the high concentration of harmful substances in the air, Natalya Vladimirovna is allowing herself to enjoy: dancing at the youth forum and erecting monuments to the bump…" said Anton Pantin.</p
The petition has been signed by 780 people so far. The deputy believes that this will help bring public attention to the fires.
Photo: change.org
Meanwhile, the situation around the head of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug, Natalya Komarova, is getting more negative as smoke from forest fires thickens in the Okrug.
Yugra is declining during Komarova's reign, and it's not just about burning green areas. The population has many concerns about their governor, including long-term construction of social institutions, corruption, interethnic conflicts, and tense relations with other governors.
Gaps in the systems
The fire situation shows not only the helplessness and inaction of the Ugra leader, but also the issues with the state fire service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations. The Moscow Post had previously reported that employees of the State Fire Service Academy experience constant pressure, creating unbearable conditions for service. Each department under the deputy head of the university is at war with another.
As a result, a large number of professors and teachers quickly left the leading university of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, and officers are trying to move to any unit outside the Academy.
New employees will soon struggle to pass on valuable experience in extinguishing fires, addressing emergencies, protecting strategic facilities, providing fire supervision, and investigating fire causes.
While the academy is falling apart, the forests in Russian territories continue to burn, and people are needed to put out the fires.
Not enough money?
Significant amounts are being spent on extinguishing fires. In 2021, Russian President Vladimir Putin directed the government to annually allocate an additional 8 billion rubles to regions for forest fire protection.
Meanwhile, the current fire in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug led the region's authorities to tap into the reserve fund, allocating over 121 million rubles for leasing three helicopters.
The Department of Subsoil Use and Natural Resources has secured budget allocations from the Autonomous Okrug Government's reserve fund amounting to 121,592.4 thousand rubles for leasing Mi-8, Mi-8 AMT, and Mi-26T helicopters for fire extinguishing, as well as for paying workers involved in the effort, as stated in the document.
Every season, cities report on their readiness for the fire season and receive billions in funds. However, this has little impact on the final outcome.
Regarding the governor of Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, Natalya Komarova, there are claims that she may seek refuge at RANEPA from the fires and other issues in the region.
Natalya Komarova. Photo: ugra-news.ru</p
However, Pavel Manchenko, President of the Regional Policy Foundation and Ph.D., is confident that there are no real reasons for Komarova to leave her position as governor.
I would like to believe that Natalya Vladimirovna will take into account the mistakes of this year and the region will conduct an honest review of the implementation of primary fire safety measures in preparation for a fire hazard season 2023. Because now the situation with fires proves that the KhMAO was not prepared for a fire hazard period.
In addition, in many parts of the region there are simply no fire reservoirs, hydrants and other infrastructure. The authorities can think about all this now, in order to prevent a large-scale catastrophe again later.
