Russia Sends Dozens of Rescuers to Quake-Struck Myanmar

The Russian government said it had flown 120 search-and-rescue specialists to Myanmar on Friday, March 28, after a 7.7-magnitude earthquake rocked the beleaguered southeast Asian nation, killing hundreds. In a post on the Russian social media website VKontakte, the Russian Emergencies Ministry said the aid operation had been ordered by President Vladimir Putin. This footage from the ministry shows dozens of workers boarding flights at Moscow’s Zhukovsky Airport. The group included teams specialized in disaster response, canine search teams, anesthesiologists and psychologists, the ministry said. Russia, along with China, has been a key ally and arms supplier to Myanmar’s military government since it overthrew the democratically-elected government in 2021, providing arms and fighter jets used to target areas controlled by ethnic minorities, according to the Associated Press. Earlier in March, Putin welcomed the head of Myanmar’s military junta, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, to Moscow, where they celebrated further deepening ties between the two countries. At least 1,002 were killed by the earthquake in Myanmar, according to reports citing figures provided by the military government on Saturday. Credit: Russian Emergencies Ministry via Storyful