Russia is currently experiencing one of the worst natural disasters in the history of the country.

The current heatwave has caused many devastating forest fires, which have had serious consequences for the country's people and vegetation.

Despite several days of firefighting efforts, the resulting smoke and blazing flames are continuing to spread in the direction of Moscow.

Although the epicentre of the fires is approximately 400 kilometres away, there are already reports of countless cases of sickness, headaches, breathing difficulties and other allergic reactions among residents of the capital. The situation is particularly acute in the region of Nischni Nowgorod, where it is currently estimated that there have been approximately 50 fatalities and immeasurable crop failures.

As a freight haulage company, we are also affected by these circumstances and must be patient in face of the many bans on driving in the 17 regions under a state of emergency.

Long waiting times are to be expected at the respective customs offices.  Depending on the region affected, there are daytime bans on driving due to the high level of heat development of the road surface, the large amount of smoke and restricted visibility.

We express our solidarity with the Russian people and the more than 2,000 members of the emergency services of the country. We hope for all those affected that the situation will soon settle down and that they can return to normal life as quickly as possible.