Greece did not turn to Russia for help in extinguishing fires - Russian FM

Athens did not turn to Moscow for help in extinguishing forest fires, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing.

"There were no requests from Athens for help," Zakharova said at a briefing.

 At the same time, she stressed that Russia sincerely sympathizes with the Greek people in view of the emergency situation that has developed due to large-scale forest fires raging in the country.

 “We express our condolences in connection with the death of the crew of the firefighting aircraft on the island of Evia on July 25,” she added.

Zakharova also recalled that in August 2021, at the direction of the President of the Russian Federation, in response to an urgent request from Athens to Greece, an air group consisting of two Il-76 aircraft and two Mi-8 helicopters was sent free of charge to participate in extinguishing fires.
"The work of our firefighters was then highly appreciated by the Greek leadership," she recalled.