A Russian Ilyushin-76 aircraft carrying 42,000 litres of water has been deployed to help Serbia battle a vast wildfire in the Deliblato Sands (Deliblatska pescara), a large steppe-like sandy nature reserve roughly 50 kilometres east of Belgrade, after around 3,500 hectares burned over the course of a month in temperatures exceeding 40°C. Serbia, a candidate for EU membership, chose Russian assistance over a standing EU offer, with Interior Minister Ivica Dačić citing the superior water capacity of the Russian plane. The decision carries political weight: Serbia has long balanced its EU aspirations against warm ties with Moscow, refuses to join EU sanctions on Russia, and the move is seen by analysts as a counterweight to Serbian President Vučić's recent public embrace of Ukrainian President Zelensky. Bulgaria — an EU and NATO member with a pro-Russian government since April — granted the Russian plane special overflight permission through its airspace, where Russian aircraft are otherwise banned under sanctions, citing humanitarian grounds, though the decision has drawn sharp criticism from pro-European opposition figures who warned the flight could have been used for intelligence-gathering.