Russian aircraft protects about 2,000 plant species from wildfire in Armenia

MOSCOW, August 17. /TASS/. The Ilyushin Il-76 aircraft operated by the Russian Emergencies Ministry has protected from fire about 2,000 species of plants while extinguishing the wildfire in Armenia’s Khosrov Forest State Reserve, the ministry’s press service informed TASS. "Thanks to the work of the Russian aircraft and local firefighters, it was possible to protect about 2,000 species of plants in the ancient republican nature reserve Khosrov Forest founded in the 4th century AD by Armenian King Khosrov III," the press service said. Eighty species of plants have been added to Armenia’s endangered-species list. Today the area of the unique state reserve is over 29,000 hectares. The crew of Russian Emergencies Ministry’s Il-76 aircraft has been able to localize all major fires in the Khosrov Forest State Reserve after it dropped more than 29,000 tonnes of water on the area. The Russian pilots are working in coordination with the Armenian firefighting and rescue teams. A major fire broke out in Armenia’s Khosrov Forest State Reserve (located some 60 kilometers southeast of Yerevan) on August 12, with several hundred hectares affected by it. The Russian Emergencies Minsitry’s Il-76 aircraft arrived in Armenia on August 14 following a request by the Armenian government and under instructions issued by the Russian government. Read more