Support The Moscow Times!

Foxes Beg for Food in Wildfire-Hit Siberia, Sparking Social Media Outcry

Artyom Fadeev / Instagram

Russian-speaking social media users fumed after a viral video showed red foxes begging drivers for food in an area of Siberia affected by widespread wildfires.

The wildfires cover 3.1 million hectares — an area the size of Belgium — of mostly remote, uninhabited forest, the Federal Forestry Agency said on Friday in what environmentalists have dubbed an ecological catastrophe. President Vladimir Putin has deployed the military to help extinguish the vast flames, while Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev ordered law enforcement authorities to look into arson as their possible cause.

Footage filmed in the smog-hit Irkutsk region shows several red foxes by the roadside appearing to beg drivers for food. One of them is then seen eagerly chewing on a chocolate bar thrown by the video’s author as other foxes loiter nearby. 

“We didn’t expect to see wild animals on the side of the road,” the video’s author, Artyom Fadeyev, told the Irkutsk edition of Russia’s Komsomolskaya Pravda tabloid.

“It wasn’t just foxes but also hares that ran up to us,” Fadeyev said, adding that the fires burned near the road at times. “We’ll make sure to bring meat and water for the poor animals on our way back.” 

Firefighters tried to extinguish 62 fires across 89,500 hectares Friday but left dozens of larger wildfires burning in hard-to-reach areas of the Irkutsk region, according to the Forestry Agency. 

… we have a small favor to ask.

As you may have heard, The Moscow Times, an independent news source for over 30 years, has been unjustly branded as a "foreign agent" by the Russian government. This blatant attempt to silence our voice is a direct assault on the integrity of journalism and the values we hold dear.

We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. Our commitment to providing accurate and unbiased reporting on Russia remains unshaken. But we need your help to continue our critical mission.

Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just 2. It's quick to set up, and you can be confident that you're making a significant impact every month by supporting open, independent journalism. Thank you.

Continue

Read more