As the massive forest fires erupt in Khakassia, Eastern Siberia, and thousands of people are left homeless, many injured, the Ministry of Emergency Situations decided not to provide transport to the volunteer organization “Vesna” to deliver humanitarian help from Saint-Petersburg to the regions damaged by the flames.
According to the volunteers themselves, the Ministry “thanked them for the rapid response but declined their request on the basis that all their trucks are in the Donbas region now”. Furthermore, the Ministry spokespeople claimed that their special planes can only fly from Moscow, meaning the volunteers would have to deliver the goods to Moscow from Saint-Petersburg on their own dime. But even then they would have to deal with the massive Russian bureaucracy machine as all the goods would have to be inventoried and sent to the ministry for its approval.
Thus the volunteers had to resort to the help of a willing private driver who agreed to take the goods to Siberia in his own truck and be only compensated for the gas money. Luckily, a private Petersburg business which decided to remain anonymous provided the volunteers with 65 thousand rubles needed, so the trip was made possible.
In a week, the “Vesna” volunteers managed to gather 230 kilos of food products, 10 kilos of medications and 15 hundred articles of warm clothing much needed in Siberia during its cold spring. But even then, the volunteers say, most of the gathered goods are being blatantly stolen by the corrupt local officials in Khakassia, who take furniture, electronics and anything of value from the sorting points and warehouses where the goods are being delivered to.
At this point the fire in Khakassia had spread as far as to cover an area of 400 square miles. Yet it looks like the Donbas terrorists would be getting the infamous humanitarian convoys on Russia’s taxpayers expense even as the taxpayers themselves are literally on fire.
