Russia sends plane to combat forest fires in Montenegro

Russia sends plane to combat forest fires in Montenegro

An Il-76 aircraft, which can carry up to 42 metric tons of water, has been sent to Montenegro at the request of the country's leadership as the efforts to extinguish raging forest fires have been unsuccessful, Viktor Beltsov said.

Beltsov also said that another firefighting plane would soon fly to Greece to combat forest fires.

Greece announced earlier that up to 40,000 hectares of forest had burned down in the country so far this summer. In the provinces of Attica in southern Greece and Boeotia in the east, more than a sixth of the woodland has been destroyed.

Russian President ordered the ministry to send more aircraft to Greece after he promised the Greek prime minister Thursday that Russia will help the country to fight forest fires.

Several Russian helicopters have been already involved in a firefighting operation in Greece since July 25.