Fiery Quartet: the fire season has begun in Russia
To date, the probability of forest fires has been noted in 86 regions of the Russian Federation, the Federal Forestry Agency told Izvestia. A special regime has been set at 50, and an emergency has been declared at four. Among the main reasons are dry thunderstorms, burning grass and violations of fire safety regulations. Since the beginning of the year, the fire has already engulfed 1.2 million hectares of forests, while the main focus of tension has shifted to Siberia, where the situation is complicated by abnormal heat and thunderstorm activity. About the most dangerous regions and forecasts for the summer — in the material of Izvestia.
Where the forests are burning
Since the beginning of the year, 3 thousand forest fires have already occurred in Russia, which have covered 1.2 million hectares of forest resources, Ivan Sovetnikov, head of the Federal Forestry Agency, told Izvestia. According to the agency, the fire season has begun in 86 regions of the country.
Over the past day, 60 forest fires have been extinguished in 16 regions, and 116 fires are still being extinguished in 14 regions.
— For comparison, in the same period of 2025, 3.3 thousand fires were registered on an area of 3.8 million hectares, — said Ivan Advisers. — The average figures for the last five years are 4.8 thousand fires on an area of 1.6 million hectares. This indicates a continued decrease in both the number of fires and the area covered by the fire.
According to the head of the department, in the spring, almost all forest fires occurred due to violations of safety rules and the transfer of fire from agricultural lands and other categories.
"The situation has changed in the summer: the influence of the natural factor has increased," he stressed. — In hot and arid weather, forests burn mainly due to dry thunderstorms, and often in remote and inaccessible areas.
The most tense situation is currently developing in Siberia. The largest number of fires was recorded in the Krasnoyarsk Territory — 95 on an area of 36.1 thousand hectares. In the Irkutsk region, there are 17 foci on 8,9 thousand hectares, in the Tomsk region — 14 on 3,5 thousand hectares.
— Rosleskhoz is constantly monitoring the development of the situation, — said Ivan Advisers. — If necessary, we send additional forces to extinguish. Currently, 538 specialists from the federal Aviation Security Service and regional forest fire brigades are involved in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, Irkutsk and Tomsk regions.
According to the agency, today there are 159 forest fires on the lands of the forest fund on an area of 50.5 thousand hectares. 2.8 thousand people, 217 units of special equipment and 14 aircraft are involved in extinguishing them.
Avialesookhrana reported that the main fire control is concentrated in three Siberian regions. The emergency regime operates throughout the Krasnoyarsk Territory and the Tomsk Region, as well as in the Nizhneilimsky municipality of the Irkutsk Region and one municipal district of Yakutia. A special fire protection regime has been established in 50 regions, during which access to the forest is strictly prohibited.
The vast majority of foci are located in remote areas. Aviation is involved in monitoring and extinguishing.
—In the Krasnoyarsk Territory and Irkutsk Region, paratroopers and paratroopers of the federal Aviation Security Service use an explosive method of laying mineralized strips in order to localize and eliminate complex foci," the department added.
In some areas where clouds have formed, experts artificially increase precipitation and cause rain.
Why such a large scale
Russia is currently undergoing a transition from the spring forest fire season to the summer-autumn peak, Konstantin Kobyakov, head of the flora conservation program at the Nature and People Foundation, told Izvestia.
— The summer-autumn peak usually falls in July–August and sometimes captures the beginning of September, — the expert explained. — The spring season has already ended: there was a noticeable decline in late May and early June, but now the indicators are growing again. As forests dry out in the northern regions of the country, the foci gradually shift from the south to the north.
According to Konstantin Kobyakov, the first part of the fire season this year was much quieter than usual. However, there were still a lot of fires.
"The south of the Far East was most seriously affected, primarily the Amur Region, as well as the Jewish Autonomous Region, Khabarovsk and Primorsky Territories," the expert noted. — The largest area captured by fire was in the Amur region. At the same time, a large number of forest fires is a familiar situation for the region, and this year has not yet become exceptional: indicators remain at an average level.
But the Jewish Autonomous Region is in danger of breaking the record of 2018 this summer: now there is a very difficult situation there, Konstantin Kobyakov noted.
— It is difficult to make forecasts due to the high climatic uncertainty: the weather throws surprises at us all the time, - the expert admitted. — Last year, the spring forest fire season turned smoothly into the summer season. And this year there was a recession. The forecasts provided by Avialesookhrana assume a traditional development of events. Most likely, the main burden will fall on Siberia and the Far East, including the Krasnoyarsk Territory and Yakutia.
According to research conducted jointly with Avialesookhrana, 90-95% of forest fires are caused by humans, Konstantin Kobyakov said. He noted that in the spring of 2026, about 10,000 wildfires were recorded in Russia.
— This is a very large number, — the expert admitted. — Due to the fact that there are many fires and they are distributed throughout the country, it is necessary to maintain significant fire response forces in each region. In dry weather, people often set grass on fire in areas or set fires due to careless handling of fire. If there are many such cases, a fire disaster may occur.
"High fire danger is observed in the Arkhangelsk Region, the Komi Republic, Kalmykia, the Krasnoyarsk Territory, Khakassia, the Irkutsk Region, in the north—west of Yakutia, as well as in the central and northern regions of Kamchatka," Anatoly Tsygankov, head of the Crisis Management Department at the Hydrometeorological Center, told Izvestia.
He added that the weather in Siberia is abnormally hot right now. In such conditions, even a small spark can lead to a rapid fire.
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