Israel has been affected by severe fires that are considered to be the worst in Israel’s history since 2010. A number of countries, including Russia, Italy, the United States and Greece had provided Israel with assistance in struggling with several blazes in various parts of the country, including near Jerusalem, Haifa, Hadera and Zichron Yaakov.
"During the last 24 hours, Be-200 aircraft had been extinguishing wildfires in the vicinity of Haifa and Jerusalem. Thanks to joint activities of the Russian pilots with the Israeli fire-fighting land group, the city of Haifa, which had already suffered from wildfires, was saved from fire," the spokesperson said.
The Russian aircraft had used some 180 tonnes of water against the wildfires during the last 48 hours, the spokesman said.
On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu requested help in fighting the wildfires from a number of international leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin. During a phone conversation, Putin pledged to send special aircraft and the required equipment to the area.
Earlier in the week, media reported that over 130 people were injured by the wildfire across Israel and resulted in evacuation of dozens of thousands from Haifa alone.
