Patrushev spoke about measures to prevent wildfires and floods.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Patrushev held a meeting at the Emergency Situations Ministry's situation center on Tuesday, March 18, where measures to prevent wildfires and floods were discussed.

At the moment, the focus of increased attention is on the East of the European part of the country and the Southern Urals. By the end of March, the water level here may exceed the standard values.

"Our common task is to prevent human casualties, damage to settlements and economic facilities. <...> In general, the situation is stable now. However, it is expected that by the end of March in the East of the European territory of the country and in the Southern Urals, the water level may exceed critical levels. In April, heavy flooding is forecast in Siberia and the Far East," Patrushev said.

At the same time, a low-snow winter may lead to the fact that the water level in the European territory of the Russian Federation will be below the required values for economic activity, he said.

The Russian Deputy Prime Minister added that 6.5 billion rubles have been allocated this year for the construction and repair of hydraulic structures and the cleaning of water bodies.

As for fighting fires, Patrushev said 2024 proved to be a difficult year due to droughts. Government support will be significantly increased this year to reduce the risk of fires. In addition, the Federal Forestry Agency will be allocated almost half a billion rubles to create a forest fire center in the Far East.

"In addition, almost 20 billion rubles have been allocated from the federal budget to strengthen training for the regions. This is significantly more than a year earlier. In particular, over 5 billion rubles were additionally allocated to the most vulnerable regions — Yakutia, Transbaikalia and the Krasnoyarsk Territory," Patrushev emphasized.

He also noted the success of the "traffic light scheme" for extinguishing fires, which involves different levels of response depending on the complexity and duration of fires. Last year, she helped prevent a deterioration in the situation, despite difficult weather conditions in Yakutia, Amur and the Jewish Autonomous Regions.

On February 12, the head of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations, Alexander Kurenkov, announced that in 2024 floods affected more than 1.5 thousand settlements in 69 regions of the Russian Federation. According to him, all the victims — more than 150,000 people — received financial assistance in full during 2024.