Two cargo planes carrying firefighting equipment provided by the United States arrived in Russia. reports this ITAR-TASS with reference to a statement made by the press attache of the American Embassy Jonathan Korac. As the RIA Novosti agency clarifies , the planes landed on the evening of Friday, August 13, at Moscow's Vnukovo airport.

According to Jonathan Korac, the United States provided Russia with fire pumps, firefighting tools, water tanks, and special heat-resistant and fire-resistant suits. At the same time, the press attaché noted that several more planes with similar cargo should arrive in Moscow over the next three days.

On the evening of August 12, during a telephone conversation that took place at the initiative of Washington, US President Barack Obama offered his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev assistance in extinguishing forest fires. It was not specified whether this proposal would be accepted.

Previously, the American authorities allocated 50 thousand dollars to help victims of fires in Russia. A statement published on the US State Department website notes that the total amount of assistance to Russia could be about $4.5 million.

Wildfires in Russia were the result of abnormally hot weather that set in at the end of June 2010. The fire destroyed over 1,900 houses in various regions of the country. More than 50 people died as a result of the fires.

About two dozen countries have offered assistance to Russia in fighting forest and peat fires. Some of them provided fire fighting equipment. Several other countries sent their specialists to Russia to assist in fighting fires. According to the head of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations Sergei Shoigu , foreign firefighters will begin to leave the country on August 17.

Planes with fire-fighting equipment from the USA arrived in Russia