Wildfires tear through Russia as Putin faces ‘second front’ amid escalation in Ukraine – World News

Black doom-laden skies and red flames have engulfed three large regions – Omsk, Tyumen and Krasnoyarsk – while the embattled Russian forces marched on the Donbas region in a new phase of the war

Vladimir Putin is today facing a “second front” as giant raging wildfires broke out across Siberia.

Black doom-laden skies and red flames have engulfed three large regions – Omsk, Tyumen and Krasnoyarsk.

As Putin’s war reached a new intensity 1,700 miles away in the Donbas, a woman in Tyumen asked: “Why are the gods so angry?”

In the Krasnoyarsk region, 1,400 miles east of Tyumen, more than 60 houses were destroyed in the blaze.

Choking smoke engulfed the major cities of Omsk, Novosibirsk, Krasnoyarsk.

A video posted by The Siberian Times shows a group of elk silhouetted against an angry orange sky wavering with flames as they run from the danger.

The news outlet said the clip was taken in the Tyumen region.

Another tweet posted to the outlet’s page featured a video showing around a dozen firefighters surveying a huge blaze raging several hundred metres from the field in which they stand.

“Firefighters and aviation are working to extinguish massive steppe fire in Tyumen region, Western Siberia,” (sic) the tweet read.

Greenpeace Russia said that the alarming wildfires are covering double the area compared with this time last year.

But the burning is more widespread than officials have registered, with some forests out of control, said spokesman Aleksey Yaroshenko.

Many are caused by people illegally burning grass, with the flames fuelled by strong winds.

Putin’s regional governments across Siberia put in emergency measures to handle the raging wildfires.

It comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the long-awaited “Battle for the Donbas” has finally begun.

Kremlin forces launched their long-anticipated offensive through the east of Ukraine in what is being seen as the second phase of the conflict, beginning from Monday night, with footage from the frontline showing relentless shelling.

Confirming Russia’s intent, the Kremlin’s defence minister Sergei Shoigu said today its forces are “methodically carrying out” plans to “liberate” two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine.