Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Wildfire · Russia · 2019

Siberian wildfire season of 2019: Krasnoyarsk, Irkutsk and Yakutia

Nature's voice · report
About 10 million ha of my forest burned in Russia in 2019, according to official sector reporting cited by the Accounts Chamber.
Did nature suffer? Yes. Harm is on record. Disputed
Recorded
  • Fires within and around my Arctic Circle, including the Sakha Republic and Alaska, released about 50 megatonnes of CO2 in June 2019 and 79 megatonnes in July 2019, according to Copernicus CAMS. Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service
  • In the first fourteen days of July 2019 my fires released approximately 31 megatonnes of CO2, according to Copernicus CAMS. Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service
  • Smoke from my Siberian fires at times covered over millions of square kilometres; CAMS forecasts of 22 August 2019 showed smoke moving into the high Arctic, some reaching Greenland across the North Pole. Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service
  • Greenpeace Russia estimated that my 2019 fires released over 225 million tonnes of CO2, as reported by Kommersant. Kommersant
What the record lacks: 1 none on record · 1 not disclosed · 1 self-reported only · 5 disputed · 2 unclear See the gaps
Accounts of the harm differ
Burned area in 2019
  • Government and regulators Accounts Chamber, citing sector reporting: 10 million ha for the full year. Accounts Chamber of Russia
  • Communities and civil society Greenpeace Russia (as reported by Kommersant, August 2019): Expected 2019 to exceed the 15.4 million ha of 2018. Kommersant
Accuracy of regional fire reporting
  • Government and regulators Prosecutor Roman Fedosov, Main Directorate for supervision of environmental law (6 August 2019): Irkutsk and other regional officials gave false information on fire locations, distances to settlements and suppression times. Current Time
  • Government and regulators Irkutsk regional government: Received no documents from prosecutors; heard only unfounded accusations. Radio Svoboda / Sibir.Realii
  • Communities and civil society Greenpeace Russia (Yaroshenko, 26 August 2019): The Avialesookhrana summary of 24 August 2019 listed 7 Irkutsk fires on 180 ha and no Irkutsk entries in the control-zone part, the day after the regional emergency regime was lifted. Greenpeace Russia (A.Yu. Yaroshenko)
How fire damage is counted
  • Government and regulators Accounts Chamber (2023 audit): Sector reporting does not give objective information on damage; reported damage fell 3 times between 2017 and 2021 while burned area rose 2.2 times. Accounts Chamber of Russia
  • Communities and civil society Greenpeace Russia (Yaroshenko, 2019): Official damage counts only timber losses; if investigators do not confirm a legal violation as the cause, official damage is automatically lower by 50–250 times. Greenpeace Russia (A.Yu. Yaroshenko)

In July and August 2019 fires burned across Krasnoyarsk Krai, Irkutsk Oblast and Yakutia while regional authorities left most of the burning area unfought under the control-zone rule. The Accounts Chamber later gave 10 million ha burned and RUB 13.5bn in reported damage for the year.

10 million haBurned area in Russia, 2019 (official sector reporting)
Accounts Chamber, citing sector reporting; reported damage RUB 13.5bn for the year.

Status As of the latest sources, the Krasnoyarsk Krai criminal case opened on 1 August 2019 has no recorded outcome; the Accounts Chamber gave 10 million ha burned and RUB 13.5bn reported damage for 2019.

What?
Fires in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Irkutsk Oblast and Yakutia burned through July and August 2019 while regional authorities left most of the burning area unfought under the control-zone rule; the Accounts Chamber later gave 10 million ha burned and RUB 13.5bn reported damage for the year. Accounts Chamber of Russia
Where?
Krasnoyarsk Krai (north: Evenkia), Irkutsk Oblast (north: Katangsky district, Kirensk) and Yakutia. Meduza
When?
From spring 2019; critical in July–August 2019; criminal case opened 1 August 2019; Prosecutor General’s Office statements 6 August 2019. Pravo.ru
Who?
Gained
None on record
Lost
  • Krasnoyarsk Krai forestry ministry officials (unnamed) — Subject of a criminal case opened on 1 August 2019; investigative actions at the ministry; no outcome on record Pravo.ru
Harmed
  • Forests in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Irkutsk Oblast and Yakutia — 846,000 ha, over 458,000 ha and over 557,000 ha burning on 24 July 2019 Meduza
  • Residents of settlements in the smoke zone — Over 800 settlements, mainly in Yakutia, Krasnoyarsk Krai and Irkutsk Oblast BFM.ru
  • Arctic atmosphere — About 50 and 79 megatonnes of CO2 in June and July 2019 from Arctic Circle fires Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service
Why?
Regional authorities applied the control-zone rule, under which suppression may be stopped when forecast costs exceed forecast harm. The Accounts Chamber named underfunding, lack of equipment, poorly equipped regional forces and tenants not meeting fire-safety duties as main causes of losses in the first half of 2019. Interfax
How?
Regional commissions decided not to fight fires in control zones; on 31 July 2019 a presidential decision sent Defence Ministry aviation; the Investigative Committee opened a criminal case and the Prime Minister ordered arson checks on 1 August. Zona Media
In proportion Annual fire-protection funding was about RUB 7bn in 2019 against RUB 25–30bn a year that experts cited as needed (Kommersant). Kommersant
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

Fires burned from spring 2019 and became critical in July and August in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Irkutsk Oblast and Yakutia. On 24 July 2019 Meduza reported nearly 2 million ha burning in Siberia and the Far East: 846,000 ha in Krasnoyarsk Krai, over 458,000 ha in Irkutsk Oblast and over 557,000 ha in Yakutia, with the fires “almost not being fought”. Pravo.ru, citing Rosleskhoz, reported over 3.3 million ha in 11 regions on 29 July. On 13 August Kommersant reported ISDM-Rosleskhoz figures of 5.4 million ha burning, of which 4.7 million ha was forest; Avialesookhrana put the area actively burning at about 3 million ha, more than 2.7 million ha of it in control zones; and Rosleskhoz gave 1.9 million ha burning outside control zones as of 12 August.

The Governor of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Alexander Uss, was reported by Meduza, citing a Telegram channel, as telling students that fighting fires in the control zone was pointless and perhaps even harmful. The head of the Krasnoyarsk Krai government, Yuri Lapshin, was reported by Meduza as saying that the logic of not fighting the fires was that money had to be saved. After a presidential decision of 31 July to send Defence Ministry aviation, Uss thanked President Putin on 1 August.

On 1 August 2019 the Krasnoyarsk Krai directorate of the Investigative Committee opened a criminal case under Article 293 part 1.1 of the Criminal Code over the conduct of regional forestry ministry officials; investigators alleged that from 22 March to 1 August the officials did not take the necessary measures to extinguish forest fires. The same day Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev ordered the Prosecutor General’s Office, the Investigative Committee and the Interior Ministry to check for deliberate arson concealing illegal logging, with a deadline of 1 November 2019. On 6 August the Prosecutor General’s Office said fires in Irkutsk Oblast had apparently covered illegal logging and that officials in Irkutsk and other regions gave false information on fire locations, distances to settlements and suppression times; the Irkutsk regional government said it had received no documents from prosecutors. On 25 September the acting head of Rosleskhoz, Mikhail Klinov, said there was no evidence of arson concealing illegal logging and that the theory was baseless.

On 2 August 2019 the Accounts Chamber said about 7,600 forest fires in the first six months of 2019 had led to losses of RUB 2.4bn and named underfunding, lack of equipment, poorly equipped regional ground and aerial forces and tenants not meeting fire-safety duties as main causes. For the full year the Accounts Chamber later gave 10 million ha burned and RUB 13.5bn in damage, citing sector reporting. Annual fire-protection funding was about RUB 7bn in 2019, against RUB 25–30bn a year that experts cited as needed.

Copernicus CAMS estimated that fires within and around the Arctic Circle, including the Sakha Republic and Alaska, released about 50 megatonnes of CO2 in June 2019 and 79 megatonnes in July 2019, and that smoke at times covered millions of square kilometres. Meduza reported smoke over a series of Siberian regions and over Yekaterinburg in July 2019, and BFM reported over 800 settlements in the smoke zone, mainly in Yakutia, Krasnoyarsk Krai and Irkutsk Oblast.

  1. 201924 Jul: nearly 2 million ha burning in Siberia and the Far East
  2. 201928–29 Jul: remarks by the Krasnoyarsk governor on control-zone fires reported
  3. 201929 Jul: over 3.3 million ha burning in 11 regions (Rosleskhoz via Pravo.ru)
  4. 201931 Jul: presidential decision to send Defence Ministry aviation
  5. 20191 Aug: Investigative Committee opens a criminal case in Krasnoyarsk Krai
  6. 20191 Aug: Prime Minister orders checks for arson concealing illegal logging
  7. 20192 Aug: Accounts Chamber gives RUB 2.4bn losses for the first six months
  8. 20196 Aug: Prosecutor General’s Office statements on Irkutsk Oblast
  9. 201913 Aug: ISDM-Rosleskhoz and Avialesookhrana figures on burning area and control zones
  10. 201915 Aug: Ministry of Natural Resources proposes moving zone decisions to the federal level
  11. 201925 Sep: acting head of Rosleskhoz says the arson theory is baseless

What was said

Claims, in the words of those who made them.

“It doesn't occur to anyone to melt an iceberg so that it would be warmer for us? … Something similar applies to forest fires in the control zone.”

Alexander Uss, Governor of Krasnoyarsk Krai, to Siberian Federal University students (reported by Meduza citing the Telegram channel Borus; translated) · 28 July 2019 (Zona Media); published 29 July 2019 · translated from Russian · Meduza

“It is an ordinary natural phenomenon, fighting which is pointless, and perhaps even harmful in some places.”

Alexander Uss, Governor of Krasnoyarsk Krai (reported by Meduza citing the Telegram channel Borus; translated) · 28 July 2019 (Zona Media); published 29 July 2019 · translated from Russian · Meduza

“By definition are not extinguished.”

Alexander Uss, Governor of Krasnoyarsk Krai, on fires in the control zone (reported by Zona Media; translated) · 28 July 2019 · translated from Russian · Zona Media

“I would like to sincerely thank, on behalf of the people of Krasnoyarsk, our President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin.”

Alexander Uss, Governor of Krasnoyarsk Krai (translated) · 1 August 2019 · translated from Russian · Zona Media

“The logic is clear: money must be saved.”

Yuri Lapshin, head of the Krasnoyarsk Krai government, on the logic of not fighting fires (reported by Meduza; translated) · 24 July 2019 · translated from Russian · Meduza

“We found such facts in Irkutsk Oblast too, where apparently fires covered illegal logging.”

Alexander Kurennoy, spokesperson, Prosecutor General’s Office (translated) · 6 August 2019 · translated from Russian · Radio Svoboda / Sibir.Realii

“We have received no documents from prosecutors; we hear only unfounded accusations.”

Irina Alashkevich, press head, Irkutsk regional government (translated) · August 2019 · translated from Russian · Radio Svoboda / Sibir.Realii

“there is no evidence of arson concealing illegal logging at present, and this theory is baseless”

Mikhail Klinov, acting head of Rosleskhoz (Interfax) · 25 September 2019 · Interfax

“Such cases probably exist, but I think it is not a mass phenomenon.”

Andrei Sirin, director, Forest Science Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, on arson (translated) · August 2019 · translated from Russian · BFM.ru

“At current funding, about 7 billion rubles a year, fighting all fires, especially in the taiga, is impossible.”

Where accounts differ

Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.

Whether fires in Irkutsk Oblast were set to conceal illegal logging
Government and regulators
Prosecutor General’s Office (spokesperson Alexander Kurennoy, 6 August 2019)

Facts found in Irkutsk Oblast where, apparently, fires covered illegal logging; signs of illegal logging and campfire remains were found where fires resumed but were not recorded in fire reports. These were statements, not charges.

Radio Svoboda / Sibir.Realii
Government and regulators
Rosleskhoz (acting head Mikhail Klinov, 25 September 2019)

No evidence of arson concealing illegal logging at present and the theory is baseless; five wildfires in illegal-logging areas were recorded in Russia that year.

Interfax
Researchers
Andrei Sirin, Forest Science Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Such cases probably exist but are not a mass phenomenon.

BFM.ru
Government and regulators
Irkutsk regional government (press head Irina Alashkevich)

No documents from the prosecutor’s office had arrived; only unfounded accusations were heard.

Radio Svoboda / Sibir.Realii
Burned area in 2019
Government and regulators
Accounts Chamber, citing sector reporting

10 million ha for the full year.

Accounts Chamber of Russia
Communities and civil society
Greenpeace Russia (as reported by Kommersant, August 2019)

Expected 2019 to exceed the 15.4 million ha of 2018.

Kommersant
Accuracy of regional fire reporting
Government and regulators
Prosecutor Roman Fedosov, Main Directorate for supervision of environmental law (6 August 2019)

Irkutsk and other regional officials gave false information on fire locations, distances to settlements and suppression times.

Current Time
Government and regulators
Irkutsk regional government

Received no documents from prosecutors; heard only unfounded accusations.

Radio Svoboda / Sibir.Realii
Communities and civil society
Greenpeace Russia (Yaroshenko, 26 August 2019)

The Avialesookhrana summary of 24 August 2019 listed 7 Irkutsk fires on 180 ha and no Irkutsk entries in the control-zone part, the day after the regional emergency regime was lifted.

Greenpeace Russia (A.Yu. Yaroshenko)
How fire damage is counted
Government and regulators
Accounts Chamber (2023 audit)

Sector reporting does not give objective information on damage; reported damage fell 3 times between 2017 and 2021 while burned area rose 2.2 times.

Accounts Chamber of Russia
Communities and civil society
Greenpeace Russia (Yaroshenko, 2019)

Official damage counts only timber losses; if investigators do not confirm a legal violation as the cause, official damage is automatically lower by 50–250 times.

Greenpeace Russia (A.Yu. Yaroshenko)

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

  • Regional authorities said the forest-fire situation was under control.
    Regional authorities, as reported by Kommersant (August 2019) · Kommersant
  • Avialesookhrana’s summary of 24 August 2019 listed 7 fires on 180 ha in Irkutsk Oblast and no Irkutsk entries in the control-zone part, the day after the regional emergency regime was lifted.
    Avialesookhrana, as described in a Greenpeace Russia presentation · Greenpeace Russia (A.Yu. Yaroshenko)
  • Official sector reporting gave burned area of 10 million ha and damage of RUB 13.5bn for 2019.
    Accounts Chamber, citing sector reporting · Accounts Chamber of Russia

Recorded

  • On 24 July 2019 burning area was 846,000 ha in Krasnoyarsk Krai, over 458,000 ha in Irkutsk Oblast and over 557,000 ha in Yakutia.
    Meduza
  • On 31 July 2019 Avialesookhrana gave a total area of about 3 million ha, more than 300 fires not fought by decision of regional commissions and 147 fires on 107,123 ha under active suppression at 00:00 Moscow time.
    Lenta.ru
  • On 12–13 August 2019: ISDM-Rosleskhoz 5.4 million ha burning (4.7 million ha forest); Avialesookhrana about 3 million ha actively burning, more than 2.7 million ha of it in control zones; Rosleskhoz 1.9 million ha outside control zones as of 12 August.
    Kommersant
  • For the full year 2019 the Accounts Chamber recorded 10 million ha burned and damage of RUB 13.5bn in sector reporting.
    Accounts Chamber of Russia
  • On 15 August 2019 the Ministry of Natural Resources proposed moving zone decisions from regions to the federal level and barring regions from changing zone boundaries; Minister Dmitry Kobylkin had ordered Rosleskhoz on 30 July to revise zone boundaries by 19 August.
    Kommersant
  • Investigators said the amount of damage in the Krasnoyarsk criminal case had not yet been determined (August 2019); investigative actions were carried out at the regional forestry ministry, the regional emergency ministry office and KGAU “Lesopozharny tsentr”.
    Pravo.ru
  • Prosecutors said signs of illegal logging and campfire remains were found where fires resumed, but were not recorded in fire reports.
    Radio Svoboda / Sibir.Realii
  • Rosleskhoz’s acting head said five wildfires in illegal-logging areas were recorded in Russia in 2019.
    Interfax

Who gained

Money that reached nature, beside money that stayed elsewhere.

Reached nature or the ground

Not published
Reported fire damage, full year 2019 (sector reporting via the Accounts Chamber)13.5bn
Window: 2019
Losses from about 7,600 fires, first six months of 2019 (Accounts Chamber)2.4bn
Window: H1 2019

Gained elsewhere

Not totalled
Annual forest fire-protection funding, 2019 (Kommersant)≈ 7bn
Window: 2019
Currency: RUB · Window: Mixed — see each line. Figures cover different periods and are not compared as a ratio. * Estimate built from cited figures.

Responses on record

  • Government of Krasnoyarsk Krai (28 July – 1 August 2019): The Governor said fighting fires in the control zone was pointless and perhaps even harmful, and later thanked the President for sending Defence Ministry aviation. · Meduza
  • Irkutsk regional government (August 2019): No documents from the prosecutor’s office had reached it; it heard only unfounded accusations. · Radio Svoboda / Sibir.Realii
  • Rosleskhoz (25 September 2019): There is no evidence of arson concealing illegal logging at present; five wildfires in illegal-logging areas were recorded in Russia that year. · Interfax
  • Prosecutor General’s Office (6 August 2019): Fires in Irkutsk Oblast had apparently covered illegal logging; officials gave false information on fire locations, distances to settlements and suppression times. · Radio Svoboda / Sibir.Realii

In court and with insurers

Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

Lawsuits and rulings

  1. 2019–Outcome not on record
    Criminal case over fire-suppression measures by Krasnoyarsk Krai forestry officials (Criminal Code Art. 293 part 1.1)
    Investigative Committee, Krasnoyarsk Krai directorate · Criminal · Investigative Committee of Russia → Officials of the Krasnoyarsk Krai forestry ministry (not named in the source)

    Opened on 1 August 2019. Investigators alleged that from 22 March to 1 August 2019 the officials did not take the necessary measures to extinguish forest fires. Investigative actions were carried out at the forestry ministry, the regional emergency ministry office and KGAU “Lesopozharny tsentr”. Investigators said the amount of damage had not yet been determined. Pravo.ru

Insurers

No insurer decision on record.

What nature saw

Outcomes measured on the ground, and nature's note.

Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.

Burned area, 2019
10 million ha
Official sector reporting (Accounts Chamber)
CO2 from Arctic Circle fires
50 + 79 megatonnes
June and July 2019 (Copernicus CAMS)
Settlements in the smoke zone
800+
Mainly Yakutia, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Irkutsk Oblast (BFM, 1 August 2019)

What we don't know

Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
No court case

Nature

Court

  • Unclear Criminal case over fire-suppression measures by Krasnoyarsk Krai forestry officials (Criminal Code Art. 293 part 1.1): outcome not on record.

Accounts

  • Disputed Whether fires in Irkutsk Oblast were set to conceal illegal logging

Record

  • Unclear Unclear: Kommersant’s year-to-date burned-area figure of 14.9 million ha (August 2019) does not clearly name the measuring body.
  • Not disclosed Not disclosed: the bodies that took the pollution readings reported by Meduza for 22–24 July 2019 (maximum single-dose limits exceeded in Novosibirsk and Tomsk, PM2.5 at twice the norm in Krasnoyarsk, carbon monoxide at 1.1 times the norm in Kirensk, fine dust at 1.8 times the norm in Yekaterinburg).
  • None on record None on record: the amount of damage in the Krasnoyarsk criminal case; investigators said in August 2019 that it had not yet been determined.
  • Self-reported only Self-reported only: Greenpeace Russia stated that official damage counts only timber losses and that fires in forests on agricultural land (about 10% of Russia’s forests) are not counted as forest fires.
  • Disputed Disputed: whether fires in Irkutsk Oblast were set to conceal illegal logging; see the disputes below.

Did the harm stop?

Defence Ministry aviation was sent after a presidential decision of 31 July 2019, as reported by Zona Media. The date the fires ended is not on record.

Who paid?

None on record.

Sources

Voices on record: — Company or project✓ Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations✓ Communities and civil society— Researchers

Government and regulators

  2. Copernicus tracks effects of Arctic Circle wildfires
    Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service · 2019-07-16
  3. Arctic wildfires continue to blaze
    Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service · 2019-08-22

Press and investigations

  4. Nature will burn its own
    Kommersant · 2019-08-13
  11. Fires in Irkutsk Oblast covered illegal logging
    Radio Svoboda / Sibir.Realii · 2019-08-07

Communities and civil society

Connected cases

Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
Terms used on this page

Science and environment

Hectare (ha)
A unit of area equal to 10,000 square metres, about 2.5 acres. 100 hectares make one square kilometre.