To extinguish the large-scale fires that followed the massive shelling of Kyiv, rescuers used aircraft and firefighting boats

On the night of June 9–10, russian forces attacked five regions of Ukraine. The Odesa, Kyiv, Chernihiv, and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts were affected, as well as the city of Kyiv. Over 100 structures in 10 settlements were damaged as a result of the shelling. The capital saw one of the largest mobilizations of personnel and equipment to deal with the aftermath. Even aircraft were involved in extinguishing the fires in Kyiv.

Oleksandr Khorunzhyi, spokesperson for the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, provided details during a briefing at the Media Center Ukraine.

“Helicopters from the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine were deployed. Two Mi-32 helicopters dropped over 40 tons of water, which significantly aided firefighters,” he said.

Aircraft were used because the total fire area exceeded 24,000 square meters.

“That’s equivalent to 3.5 football fields – these are huge areas. We made the decision to deploy aircraft, which, along with ground equipment and other resources, could effectively extinguish these fires. I can say that practically all fires were extinguished on the first day, except for one. However, only the remaining smoldering patches were doused over the next two days. In fact, all the fires were put out on the first day,” said Oleksandr Khorunzhyi.

In addition to firefighting aircraft, firefighting boats were also used.

“Their distinctive feature is that they have powerful enough pumps to draw water from the Dnipro River. These pumps filled fire trucks, providing large quantities of water to fire sites. Essentially, the operation involved aviation, fire-rescue equipment, specialized machinery, and firefighting boats. All this enabled us to extinguish these large-scale fires rapidly, preventing their spread”, Khorunzhyi explained.

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