According to the head of the Ministry of Defense, sanctions make their creation impossible
MOSCOW, December 27. /tass/. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu believes that international rescue coordination centers could help in case of emergencies in different regions of the world, but sanctions make their creation impossible. He expressed this opinion in an interview with the Argumenty i Fakty newspaper published on Monday.
"We have long proposed through the Ministry of Emergency Situations to create coordination rescue centers in various regions of the world. For example, for the joint extinguishing of forest fires. Because no country is able to keep such a large number of aircraft and people in reserve, which may suddenly be needed if there is a strong blaze. <...> And such an approach could be implemented everywhere if there were no various barriers in the form of sanctions, bureaucracy. If everyone had a desire to live in harmony and help each other," he told the newspaper.
The Defense Minister also told the publication that the department has the largest number of Il-76 aircraft and Mi-8 and Mi-26 helicopters. Shoigu noted that all of them are capable of extinguishing fires if necessary. "Because the country must have sufficient resources that may be needed in emergency situations," he added, answering a question about why the military helps civilian rescuers in extinguishing fires.
