MChS to Form Up 12th Humanitarian Aid Convoy for the Donbass

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On Friday, the MChS said that it’s forming up the twelfth humanitarian aid convoy for the Donbass, saying, “We’re putting together another convoy to take humanitarian aid to the Donbass and finalising the dates now”. Part of the convoy will originate at the Noginsk MChS centre in Moscow Oblast; other echelons will come from other parts. Earlier, Emergencies Minister Lieutenant General V A Puchkov said that the twelfth convoy would leave as soon as it’s ready. He explained that the specific content of aid cargo in each convoy originates in requests from local governments; primarily, humanitarian aid includes food, medical supplies, and items needed to ensure continuous operation of energy facilities and vital social services. The majority of the cargo in the previous eleven humanitarian convoys consisted of food and medicines. So far, since August of 2014, Russia shipped over 14,800 tons of humanitarian aid to the Donbass.

23 January 2015

ITAR-TASS

http://itar-tass.com/en/world/772908

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Russia Restores 150 Schools and Hospitals in Novorossiya

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On Thursday, Deputy Emergencies Minister Vladimir Stepanov told us that Russian aid restored schools and medical facilities in Novorossiya, saying, “Using humanitarian aid supplies, we’ve restored about 150 socially-significant facilities… healthcare facilities and schools”, adding that restoration work continued in Novorossiya in war-torn areas. He said, “We’re restoring another 400 facilities at the moment”, noting that Russian relief cargoes helped to provide food to needy people. Since last August, eleven MChS convoys delivered more than 14,800 tons of aid, predominantly food products, daily necessities, and construction materials to key locations in the LNR and DNR. The twelfth MChS convoy shall leave for the Donbass in two weeks. Stepanov said, “I believe we’ll dispatch it at the end of January or the beginning of February”.

15 January 2015

ITAR-TASS

http://itar-tass.com/en/world/771380

Eurasia’s Highest Volcano Spews Ash Up to 10 Kilometres into the Atmosphere in Kamchatka

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On Friday morning, the MChS reported that Eurasia‘s highest stratovolcano, Klyuchevskaya Sopka, on Kamchatka Peninsula in the Russian Far East, churned out ash to a height of 10 kilometres (6.2 miles), noting, “The cloud of ash travelled a distance of 200 kilometres (125 miles) to the southwest of the volcano”, adding that ash downfalls were reported in two local villages. The statement warned all tourist agencies in the region against conducting tours in the areas located near the volcano and advised all air carriers operating in the region to select alternative routes. Klyuchevskaya Sopka, which lies 220 miles north of regional capital Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, is one of the largest active volcanoes in the world, with a height of 4,750 metres (15,584 feet). It erupts every two to three years. The volcano’s most powerful eruption was between January and May of 2005. Following that eruption, the volcano “sank” by 50 metres (165 feet), from 4,800 metres (15,749 feet) to the current 4,750 metres. There are more than 150 volcanoes on Kamchatka and up to 30 of them are active.

18 October 2013

RIA-Novosti

http://en.ria.ru/russia/20131018/184216675/Eurasias-Highest-Volcano-Spews-Ash-Up-to-62-Miles.html

 

Only in Russia… EMERCOM Saves Would-Be Jumper’s Life with Vodka

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On Tuesday, local EMERCOM sources said that first responders in the Siberian city of Irkutsk prevented a local man from jumping to his death with the help of a bottle of vodka. Without specifying when the incident took place, they said that a 28-year-old man, who appeared to be extremely drunk, was threatening to jump from the roof of a five-story residential building. First responders at the scene found it difficult to persuade the man to abandon his suicide attempt, noting, “It was hard negotiating with him; he demanded that we bring him another bottle of vodka or he’d jump”. One of his neighbours finally bought vodka for the man, whilst rescuers prepared a special landing pad to break his fall if he jumped. EMERCOM noted, “Alcohol lulled the young man’s vigilance. Sitting on a drainpipe, he took a gulp from the bottle of vodka, after which he grew thoughtful”. That gave rescuers “enough time to run up to him across the roof and fling a loop over him. Simultaneously, they seized the man by his legs from a balcony below the roof, which prevented him from jumping or falling down”. The man’s motives for threatening to kill himself are not known.

23 July 2013

RIA-Novosti

http://www.en.rian.ru/russia/20130723/182377417/Russian-Rescuers-Save-Would-Be-Jumpers-Life-With-Vodka.html