Ukraine and Lithuania send firefighters to help France battle Gironde wildfires
Ukraine deployed 70 firefighters and 15 vehicles, and Lithuania is sending 40 officers including 32 firefighters, to help France fight wildfires that have burned roughly 100,000 acres in the Gironde region. French officials say the situation has stabilized after forcing tens of t
Ukraine's Interior Ministry, acting under the EU Civil Protection Mechanism at President Zelensky's order, sent 70 firefighters and rescuers plus 15 specialized vehicles to help France battle wildfires in the Gironde region, marking Ukraine's first such mission to an EU member state even as it continues to face near-daily Russian missile and drone attacks at home. Lithuania is separately sending 40 officers, including 32 firefighters and 9 vehicles. The fires have burned roughly 100,000 acres of forest, villages and farmland over more than a week, forcing tens of thousands of evacuations; two firefighters died battling a blaze near Bordeaux-Merignac Airport earlier this month. French officials say the situation has now stabilized. World Weather Attribution scientists found climate change made the fire-prone conditions in southwestern France at least twice as likely, as firefighting crews are simultaneously stretched by blazes in Greece, Germany, Turkey and England.