Serbia Calls in Russian IL-76 for Wildfire

Russian IL-76 joins the battle against the Deliblato Sands wildfire after Serbia asks Moscow for help

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The IL-76 is now fighting the fire over the Deliblato Sands, just four days after Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said Serbia did not need foreign assistance because it had enough personnel, expertise and helicopters to deal with the wildfires on its own.

The aircraft did not arrive uninvited, either. According to the Russian side, Serbia turned to Moscow for help after the situation deteriorated to a critical level. This raises an obvious question: did conditions change so dramatically in just four days, or had Belgrade previously simply chosen not to make use of the European assistance that was available?

The IL-76 can provide something the EU could not at this moment

A Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations IL-76 joined firefighting operations over the Deliblato Sands on Thursday, where a major wildfire has been burning for weeks. The aircraft took off from Niš Constantine the Great Airport after being loaded with water and began operations in coordination with the helicopter unit of Serbia’s Ministry of Interior.

The IL-76 can drop up to 42 tonnes of water in a single run. According to Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dačić, no firefighting aircraft with that capacity is currently available through the European Union Civil Protection Mechanism.

The Russian IL-76 arrived at Niš Constantine the Great Airport on Wednesday evening and began fighting the wildfire over the Deliblato Sands on Thursday morning in coordination with the helicopter unit of Serbia’s Ministry of Interior (Source: Screenshot, N1)

The Russian aircraft arrived in Niš on Wednesday evening. According to Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the deployment of the aircraft, its crew and an operational group from the Ministry of Emergency Situations to Serbia.

Serbia asked Russia for help

The politically interesting detail is that, according to the Russian Embassy, the request for assistance came from the Serbian side.

The embassy said that Serbia had turned to Russia because of the critical deterioration of the wildfire situation and the growing threat to populated areas. The Russian units are expected to assist in containing the forest fires and protecting settlements and critical infrastructure.

The Russian IL-76 was loaded with water before taking off on its firefighting mission

Conditions on the ground are indeed serious. According to N1, more than 3,500 hectares of forest and vegetation have already been affected, while firefighters are currently trying, among other things, to protect the village of Grebenac.

Strong winds and extreme heat are making their work more difficult. Another heatwave is beginning in the region, with temperatures expected to reach as high as 42 degrees Celsius in some areas.

According to an N1 reporter, police checkpoints have also been established around the Deliblato Sands, and vehicles without special permits are being turned back for safety reasons because the flames have reached areas close to the roads.

Four days earlier, Vučić said foreign help was not needed

The arrival of Russian assistance is particularly noteworthy in light of a statement made by Aleksandar Vučić on August 16.

At the time, the Serbian president said that Serbia could count on assistance from both European mechanisms and Russia if necessary. He also thanked European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for including Serbia on the map of countries affected by wildfire risks and said that European mechanisms were monitoring developments in Serbia.

We previously reported

Deliblato Sands: Fire Is Not the Only Threat, Tepić Says

Vučić, however, said at the time that foreign assistance was not necessary.

– We do not need it at this moment. We have enough forces, knowledge, helicopters and everything else to deal with this ourselves – the Serbian president said, adding that there was no particular reason for concern over the fires.

Four days later, however, an IL-76 requested from Russia is fighting the wildfire over the Deliblato Sands.

Did the situation change that much in four days?

There is, of course, not necessarily a contradiction between the two events. Wildfire conditions can change dramatically within hours, particularly amid strong winds and temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius. It is therefore entirely possible that Serbia’s available resources genuinely appeared sufficient on August 16 but were no longer enough several days later.

What makes the issue politically sensitive, however, is that Vučić mentioned the possibility of both European and Russian assistance in the same statement, while Belgrade ultimately turned to Moscow.

We previously reported

Wildfires reported at more than twenty locations across Serbia

Dačić has offered a technical explanation: the EU Civil Protection Mechanism currently has no available aircraft comparable to the IL-76 that can deliver 42 tonnes of water in a single firefighting run.

That is an important distinction. However, the fact that no aircraft of this particular capacity was available does not in itself mean that the European mechanism could not have provided any other form of assistance.

For the moment, therefore, it cannot be stated as fact that Belgrade chose Moscow because it wanted to brush off the European Union. What can be said is that four days after Vučić described foreign assistance as unnecessary, Serbia requested and received foreign assistance from Russia.

The Deliblato Sands have been burning for weeks

According to Vojvodinašume, as cited by N1, the first fire was detected as early as July 21. Those initial fires were localised and brought under control, but a new fire was detected on August 5 and could no longer be contained as it spread under extreme weather conditions.

Since then, more than 350 people have been fighting the fire from the ground and from the air.

The most urgent task now is not to decipher Serbia’s foreign-policy balancing act but to protect the surrounding settlements. Firefighters are working continuously around Grebenac, while residents have also been warned of the danger door to door.

The arrival of the Russian IL-76 could provide substantial assistance. Its capacity to drop 42 tonnes of water in a single run allows it to cover a large burning area in a short period of time, making the work of firefighting crews on the ground considerably easier.

The aircraft is now fighting the wildfire over the Deliblato Sands. Hopefully, the blaze will be brought under control. The political question, however, will remain even after the flames are extinguished: if Serbia had sufficient resources just four days earlier, what changed in the meantime – and why did a country that, at least officially, remains on a path towards the European Union ultimately have to turn to Moscow for help?

Translation note: This English version was prepared with the assistance of ChatGPT and reviewed by BALK’s editorial team. The original Hungarian-language article can be read here.