“Dear Mr. President, dear friend, I would like to express my sincere condolences for the tragic consequences of the landslides in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China,” Putin said in a telegram addressed to Xi Jinping and published on the Kremlin website.

The Russian leader asked that his “words of solidarity and support be conveyed to those who have lost loved ones due to the natural disaster,” as well as his “wishes for a speedy recovery to all those affected.”

He also sent messages to the President of Nepal, Ram Chandra Poudel, and to the country’s Prime Minister, Balendra Shah.

“Please accept my deepest condolences for the numerous human casualties and the severe damage caused by the landslides and floods in the northeastern regions of your country,” Putin wrote to Nepalese authorities.

He conveyed that Russia shares the pain of the Nepalese people and expressed its support for the families and loved ones of the victims, as well as wishing a speedy recovery to all those affected by the disaster.

On August 26, a powerful surge of water from the Chinese side of the border burst its banks on the Bhotekoshi River, causing severe damage in the Nepalese district of Rasuwa, bordering Tibet, as well as in other areas downstream.

So far, 289 bodies have been recovered on the Nepalese side of the border, and three deaths have been confirmed in China.

Dozens of people have been taken to hospitals, and more than 1,400, including around 500 foreigners of various nationalities, remain missing.

The US Geological Survey, for its part, reported that the catastrophic flash flood was caused by a glacial collapse, not an earthquake, as previously reported.

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