Russia conceals extent of forest fires, - Ukrainian intelligence
The Russian authorities systematically underestimate the scale of forest fires, which cover millions of hectares of territory every year.
According to Censor.NET, citing the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine (FISU), the actual scale of the environmental disaster is several times greater than the officially published data.
Forest fires: silence and consequences
According to intelligence reports, in the first half of 2025 alone, approximately 9.5 million hectares of forest burned down in Russia, while official statistics record only 2.7 million hectares.
The FISu notes that some fires are simply not reported, especially those that occur on military training grounds and agricultural land.
The most problematic issues remain:
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fires on land belonging to the Russian Ministry of Defense (in particular, at the Krasny Yar training ground near Chita, which burned for more than 20 days);
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chronic shortage of personnel in fire safety services (in 2024, a 25% reduction in personnel);
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the lack of restoration of burned areas, which are becoming uninhabitable.
"After forest fires, the areas are not restored but turn into 'dead land'. However, instead of investing in environmental safety, the Kremlin is spending resources on the war against Ukraine," the FISU statement said.
The Russian economy is in a phase of contraction
In addition to the environmental crisis, the Foreign Intelligence Service has noted a systematic decline in business activity in Russia.
According to the FISU, in the first eight months of 2025, the net profit of enterprises decreased by 8.3%, and the share of problematic borrowers among legal entities reached 23%.
Approximately 165,000 companies are no longer able to service their debt obligations, indicating a loss of financial stability in key sectors of the Russian economy.
Recently, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham stated that Russia's economy is based on oil and gas. If these revenues are reduced, the war in Ukraine will end.
We also wrote that US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called Russian dictator Vladimir Putin's envoy Kirill Dmitriev a propagandist who cannot acknowledge the impact of US sanctions on the Russian economy.
