INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Moscow has been blanketed by wildfire smog coming from a nearby region fueled by a summer heat wave, Interfax reported.Authorities in the
Russian capital advised residents on Thursday to wear face masks to protect themselves from the smog.The Federal Forestry Agency
control.Several aircraft and over 470 people were working to put out the fires in the Ryazan region some 250 kilometers southeast of Moscow,
the emergencies ministry said on Telegram.The region's Governor Pavel Malkov estimated Wednesday that over 800 hectares had been affected
Situations Minister Alexander Kurenkov on Thursday urged local authorities across central and western Russia to ban people from visiting
forests."There is a high probability that the fires were caused by human action
And the persistent heat and drought are creating favorable conditions for the fire to spread," Greenpeace's Russian chapter said
through Russia's vast territory in recent years, particularly impacting Siberia, the Arctic and the Far East.The blazes, which are
increasingly frequent, are exacerbated by low rainfall and heat waves that scientists have linked to climate change.Each summer, these fires
