Ukrainian firefighters return home after helping fight wildfires in France

Firefighters from Ukraine's State Emergency Service have come back home after spending almost two weeks in France helping to bring large-scale forest fires under control. Interior Minister Ivan Vyhivskyi announced the news on Telegram, as reported by European Pravda.

According to Vyhivskyi, this marked the first time a Ukrainian firefighting team assisted an EU member state through the EU's civil protection mechanism.

Joint work with France and other nations

The deployed unit included 70 firefighters and 15 pieces of specialised equipment, the minister said. The Ukrainians patrolled forested areas, used drones to spot newly emerging fire outbreaks, and worked side by side with French crews to bring the flames under control.

Vyhivskyi noted that the mission also became a chance for firefighters from Ukraine, France, Slovakia and other countries to exchange professional experience. He said the assignment allowed Ukrainians to share the distinctive expertise they have built up during the full-scale war. French authorities reportedly praised the Ukrainian team's work highly, and local residents expressed their gratitude.

Record area burned in France

Since the start of 2026, wildfires have destroyed about 100,000 hectares of land across France — the highest figure recorded in the 20 years since satellite monitoring of such areas began.

The hardest-hit region was the Gironde department in south-western France, where tens of thousands of hectares were destroyed, and it was there that the Ukrainian firefighters were sent to support their French counterparts. On 13 August, another major fire broke out in the Landes department, burning through an additional 1,000 hectares. France has also reported record-low water levels in smaller rivers this summer.