Nearly 6,000 Russian firefighters are battling some 368 wildfires ranging across Russia from Moscow to the Pacific seaboard, officials here reported.
The areas hardest hit by the fires are the Moscow region, Siberia's Yakutia gold-mining province and the central region of Nizhny Novgorod.
One million hectares have been burned since the start of the year by 21,764 fires
A record-breaking heatwave has exacerbated the fires, with temperatures reaching over 30 degrees in the capital Moscow. Drought and several arson incidents in Siberia have also contributed to the worsening blazes. AFP