Russian officials estimate immediate economic damage from Siberian fires at 7 billion rubles

Mikhail Klinov, the acting chief of Russia’s federal forestry agency, has estimated the short-term economic damage from this year’s wildfires in Siberia at 7 billion rubles ($106 million). The estimate did not appear to include additional damage to Russian and global ecology or to the health of Russian residents. Klinov noted that the Siberian wildfires have remained stable in the last few days. They currently span 1.12 million hectares (about 2.8 million acres). Environmental activists have amplified their concerns about the Siberian fires in recent days as record-breaking wildfires in the Amazon rainforest have plunged cities into darkness and appeared on satellite images. Experts have tied fires in both areas to the climate crisis, noting that Siberian forests and the Amazon are vital sources of carbon absorption.