During a working trip to the Luhansk region, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy inspected the areas affected by forest fires in the Novoaydarsky district and got himself acquainted with the course of liquidation of the consequences of the emergency.
Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said that three areas of fire are currently of concern. The situation is complicated by the proximity of the line of delimitation of forces and assets.
"The President has approved a decision to use aviation. We set a task to completely localize all sources of fire by the end of the day, so that even if the wind rises again, we do not have any risks," the Interior Minister said.
He also stressed the need to send additional equipment to the region for rapid response.
Mykola Chechotkin, Head of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, said that 113 units of equipment, more than 500 rescuers, as well as police, National Guard and military engineering units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are currently eliminating the emergency situation in the region.
According to him, yesterday all the necessary forces and means of the Luhansk garrison were sent to extinguish the forest fire, but due to the strong wind the fire began to spread chaotically, in unpredictable directions, and spread to the settlement. Therefore, the SES additionally attracted equipment from other regions.
"Today there is no threat to settlements. Fire aircraft is working. I think we will cope with our tasks in the near future," Mykola Chechotkin said.
As the representative of the State Emergency Service reported to the President, aviation works where it is impossible to attract ground equipment. As of now, as a result of the emergency, five people have died, 59 houses have burned down, 24 of them in full and 35 partially.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the village of Smolyanynove, which was badly damaged by the fire, and talked to local residents. People told the President how they escaped the fire and about the damaged property.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed the need to allocate funds to provide housing for citizens who have lost their homes. At the same time, the President noted that the victims should receive temporary housing as soon as possible.
"Temporary housing can be rented very quickly here. If there are not enough relatives or the desire of someone to host these people, it is possible to do it in the region - in boarding houses. I also know that the Kharkiv region offered to accommodate everyone yesterday - they have such opportunities," the President said.
Also, according to him, it is necessary to calculate all the damage caused by the fire to the property, in addition to the loss of housing, because the victims were sometimes left without a farm, documents, money and valuables.
“We need to calculate very quickly and provide compensation to people, "the President said.
The President commissioned Head of the Luhansk Regional State Administration Serhiy Haidai to gather all the necessary information about the victims in order to help them quickly.
The Head of State emphasized that the lists of victims and damaged property must be submitted today.
Luhansk RSA Head informed that the lists are being prepared, and the appeal to the government for the allocation of compensations was submitted.
