According to media reports, the death rate in Russian capital has risen by 50 percent in July. The situation may become even more unhappy for the Russians this month. Now, Muscovites are dying not only from the heatwave, but also because of thick smoke that has blanketed the city.

4 people died a day before in the center of Moscow in conditions of poor visibility. All of them were victims of traffic incidents.

Meanwhile, a real buzz is in tourist agencies of the city. Hoping to leave the metropolis, where there is literally nothing to breathe, Muscovites are buying off last vouchers from travel agencies. They are already ready to go "anywhere".

Travel agency managers have not seen for many years such a demand, even in August. "Holidays" in Croatia, Montenegro and Bulgaria have been sold until mid-September. Prices for tours to Turkey went up sharply.

Representatives of diplomatic missions are also fleeing from Moscow. Germany closed its embassy and consular department in Russian capital because of smoke ...

The situation with hellish fires might further complicate in 17 Russian regions with favorable situation for the spread of fires, said the ringleader of Emergency Situations Ministry (ESM) Sergei Shoigu.

According to him, serious situation arose in Vladimir and Moscow regions as well as in Karelia, where the "downstream" fires turned "upstream". Earlier, Russian officials spoke about "stormy fires".

Shoigu said that "upstream" fires are spreading much more quickly, in Nizhny Novgorod region fiery tornadoes move at a speed of 100 meters per minute.

"We have a fire area of 82,000 hectares which emerged in 6 hours. Fiery tornadoes jumped over 250-meter lakes like a puddle", Shoigu reported.

According to Shige, the main task for him is now to protect Russian population and facilities of economic importance.

"A part of our work is connected with facilities of the correctional system (famous Russian GULAG - KC), which are mainly located in forests, as well as potentially dangerous production facilities", said the ringleader of the ESM.

Russian authorities say that ...

A US Radio Liberty in Prague has interviewed the former British military intelligence officer and now a historian of intelligence Michael Smith about Russian spies. The British intelligence officer said:

"Putin is implementing his ideas about an alleged threat to Russia, and the need to ensure its security.

He believes that Russia should retain the same number of spies as it had during the cold war. In his opinion, Russia should develop espionage. For him, this is one of the evidences that Russia remains one of the world leaders and still has considerable intelligence capabilities. The exposure of the Russian spy net in America is one of the confirmations of it.

It's all a part of his extensive plan to prevent the mythical threat from outside. This is a behavior, which the Russians expect from Putin. Putin, in their view, is a national leader, and he demonstrates that Russia is still a powerful country. Such behavior is of great importance for ...