Zakharova called the involvement of prisoners in fighting fires in California hypocrisy

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Sunday, January 12, called the involvement of prisoners in fighting wildfires in southern California hypocrisy.

"Hundreds of prisoners have been involved in extinguishing forest fires in southern California: according to local authorities, they make up about a third of the personnel of the group involved in the fight against the fire," she informed in her Telegram channel.

At the same time, the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman recalled how the U.S. has repeatedly criticized China for the use of forced labor.

Zakharova stressed that in 2022 in the U.S. came into force the law on the prevention of forced labor of Uighurs to impose a ban on imports to the U.S. goods produced with the use of forced labor in the PRC. And in 2023, Washington restricted imports of products from several Chinese companies that allegedly distributed goods made with forced labor of Uighurs.

"This raises a legitimate question: will Congress draft a bill imposing sanctions on California authorities, private companies and ordinary Americans for using prison labor to put out fires? How tiresome is this obscurantist hypocrisy!" - she concluded.

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Multiple wildfires in Los Angeles were reported on January 8. Extinguishing continues, strong winds are fueling the fire, and rescue crews are short of water. In connection with the fires in the state declared a major disaster mode. The projected damage from the disaster will be about $52-57 billion. More than 12.3 thousand buildings were destroyed.

On suspicion of arson, which could be the cause of the largest fire in Los Angeles, one person was detained on January 9. He may face punishment up to life imprisonment.