CHELYABINSK. May 10 (Interfax) - The police department in Miass, Chelyabinsk region, has opened criminal cases into attempts to set fire to forests surrounding the city, including sites within the territory of a nature reserve, the press service for the regional prosecutor said on Wednesday.
According to data from the supervisory agency, illegal actions of this kind were registered near Lake Turgoyak, as well as in the Ilmen Nature Reserve and the city's forests across an area of 24 hectares on May 3.
On May 4, an unknown individual "tried to destroy forest areas across a total area of 220 hectares," prosecutors said.
Criminal cases were opened based on the established facts into destruction or damage of forests through arson.
According to earlier reports, officials from the Emergency Situations Ministry's investigative department established a connection between the locations of the fires. Eyewitnesses noticed someone riding a motorbike in these areas, following which several fires occurred.
The Emergency Situations Ministry has stepped up its monitoring of the situation in Miass using several drones, and additional police patrols has been organized.
A total of 345 fires across an area of almost 5,200 hectares have been extinguished in the forest areas of the Chelyabinsk region since the start of the fire season. According to earlier reports, 185 of the fires were caused by local residents, and in more than 140 cases the fires spread to the forests from other types of terrain.
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