Dry thunderstorms trigger forest fires in Russia

Dry thunderstorms have caused forest fires in areas of the Pozharsky and Krasnorameisky districts in Russia, a spokesman for the local forestry department said on Tuesday. A number of wildfires in Russia’s Far Eastern regions as well has increased in the past 24 hours, the spokesman told Russian news agency (Itar-Tass). The season of the thunderstorms has started earlier than usual this year. Over the last week, eight fires have erupted but were put out and controlled. A total of 175 million robles have been allocated this year to use a patrolling aircraft to fight the fires.