Devastating Start to Russias 2025 Wildfire Season: Widespread Fires Rage in Siberia and the Far East

In the past week, forest fires have spread across several regions in Siberia and the Far East of Russia, signaling what is anticipated to be another severe wildfire season.

According to the country’s Aerial Forest Protection Service, as of Thursday, at least 52 wildfires were actively burning, affecting over 41,675 hectares across Russia.

Authorities have declared the start of the wildfire season in 64 regions, including the occupied areas of Donetsk, Luhansk, and the annexed city of Sevastopol in Crimea.

While human activities, particularly the common practice of setting dry grass ablaze to mitigate fire impacts in populated areas, are the primary cause of most wildfires in Russia, experts highlight that snow drought and the early onset of spring this year are heightening the risk of extensive forest fires.

The majority of the fires reported—amounting to at least 31,903 hectares—occurred in the Zabaikalsky region of the Far East, where officials declared a region-wide state of emergency on Monday.

Fires encroached near the region’s section of the Baikal Highway on Tuesday, one of the nation’s critical routes, leading to restrictions on traffic movement while the capital city, Chita, was engulfed in smoke from the nearby blazes.

Valery Shreider, the Chief Forest Inspector of the Zabaikalsky region, stated on Wednesday that they lack sufficient manpower and resources to control the fires, emphasizing the importance of assistance from firefighters from other parts of Russia.

Together with the Buryatia Republic and the Jewish autonomous district, the Zabaikalsky region is a national leader in utilizing controlled burning as a technique for managing forests and preventing fires.

Controlled burning includes igniting dead grasses, trees, and dense underbrush during the safest seasons to avert fires during the hot, dry summer. Each year, federal authorities allocate a significant portion of their budget for this practice.

“In theory, controlled burning can only be executed under specific, often strict conditions… In practice, however, there is an insufficient workforce and resources to implement controlled burning over extensive areas while adhering to all safety protocols,” explained forestry expert Alexei Yaroshenko in a post for the environmental initiative, Zemlya Kasaetsa Kazhdogo.

Alexander Osipov, the Governor of the Zabaikalsky region, remarked that forest coverage in the region has declined by 30% over the past three decades due to frequent fires, with over 70% of these being caused by human actions.

In neighboring Siberia, a severe windstorm that impacted the Kemerovo, Krasnoyarsk, and Irkutsk regions, as well as Khakassia last week, left hundreds of thousands of homes without electricity and exacerbated ongoing wildfires.

In the Irkutsk region, at least 17 homes and one school were destroyed when fires encroached on several districts on Saturday.

In Buryatia Republic, local authorities declared a state of emergency in the Yeravninsky district, which borders the Zabaikalsky region, as over 3,400 hectares of forest were reported ablaze as of Thursday.

Experts predict that the wildfire destruction in Russia this season could exceed the record-setting devastation of 13.8 million hectares seen last year.

April is expected to witness the most instances of forest fires impacting residential areas and infrastructure, while toxic smoke from wildfires is likely to engulf major Russian cities in July and August, according to Zemlya Kasaetsa Kazhdogo.

There is a consensus among experts that, similar to previous years, Russian authorities are underprepared for the upcoming wildfire season in 2025.

In budget allocations for fire prevention in 2025, the Russian government has earmarked over 19.9 billion rubles (approximately $234 million). While this marks a nominal increase of 40% from last year, the financial input towards fire protection has not seen significant growth between 2022 and 2024, despite worsening conditions and a 16% inflation rate, as reported by investigative outlet The Insider.

At the same time, the Ministry of Emergencies in Russia continues to face a shortage of firefighting equipment and, crucially, manpower.

In February, the ministry reported a 15% deficit of staff in the State Fire Management department, primarily due to low wages in the sector. Consequently, in some regions, a single fire management specialist may oversee an area as vast as 60,000 hectares.

This issue has been compounded by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has increased defense spending at the expense of other budget areas and resulted in a significant exodus of able-bodied men from the wildfire-prone regions to the frontline.

“During prolonged periods of dry and exceptionally hot weather, many regions may lack the capacity and resources needed to effectively combat fires, likely resulting in widespread emergencies at regional and interregional levels,” wrote forestry expert Yaroshenko.