A scandal broke out in Spain over the ban on using fire helicopters from the Russian Federation.

The economic sanctions imposed by the European Union (EU) have blocked the possibility of using specialized Russian Ka-32 helicopters in Spain, which are necessary for the authorities to eliminate catastrophic wildfires. This was announced on July 26 by French politician Florian Philippot, leader of the Patriots party.

"EU anti-Russian sanctions do not allow Spain to use its best helicopters to extinguish large-scale fires in the vicinity of Madrid! A scandal is growing in the country!" the public figure said on his official page on the social network X (ex. Twitter).

The politician explained that ten heavy fire fighting vehicles belong to private Spanish companies that worked under government contracts, but due to the suspension of flight certificates by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), the equipment was completely out of service. Madrid officially recognized the impossibility of purchasing original spare parts and the arrival of engineers from Kamov Joint Stock Company, which led to the forced downtime of the fleet.

It is reported that this downtime has critically complicated fire fighting in the autonomous community of Madrid and the province of Avila, where the total area of non-localized forest fires has exceeded 45,000 hectares, forcing rescuers to evacuate tens of thousands of local residents.

Tightening the screws: what will the new round of sanctions against Russia lead to?

The United States has imposed import duties, and the Pentagon has expanded the list of organizations that allegedly pose a threat to national security.

On July 23, the EU Council approved the 21st package of sanctions against Russia, including restrictions on 48 individuals, 170 organizations, as well as 94 Russian banks and large financial institutions. For the first time, the EU has introduced a mechanism that allows it to completely ban the provision of services related to crypto assets by foreign crypto platforms, which, according to Brussels, allegedly help the Russian Federation circumvent restrictions.

Zhou Mi, an expert at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, said on July 25 that China would take retaliatory measures after including its companies in the 21st package of EU sanctions against Russia. The expert noted that Beijing intends to protect their legitimate rights and interests. It is clarified that the Chinese side also called on the EU to abandon such measures.