MOSCOW: The southern Russian city of Novorossiisk on the Black Sea declared a state of emergency on Sunday as forest fires spread across an area of 22 hectares, its mayor said.
Intense heat, strong winds and dry thunderstorms have caused forest fires across Russia in recent weeks, from the remote Siberian region of Tuva to the Republic of Sakha, also known as Yakutia, in the Far East.
Pictures published by the mayor of Novorossiisk, Andrei Kravchenko, showed firefighters battling blazes and vast expanses of scorched earth and trees.
Kravchenko, writing on Telegram, said buses had been prepared to evacuate around 200 people from risk areas and that helicopters were extinguishing the blazes across mountainous terrain.
Fires have spread across the broader southern Krasnodar region where Novorossiisk is located, on the Black Sea where many Russian holidaymakers head during the summer months.
People lay candles and tributes at the site where a car drove into a crowd at a Magdeburg Christmas market in...
Australian rescue workers comb through the site of a collapsed building in Port Vila, the capital city of Vanuatu....
Soldiers of a Kayan ethnic rebel group fighting Myanmar’s junta at an event in Shan state on. — AFP/FileYANGON: A...
Protesters attend a rally against South Korea's impeached president Yoon Suk Yeol, who declared martial law, which was...
A self-proclaimed witch lights a candle before a ceremony. — Reuters/FileLUSAKA: Zambian police said they have...
Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini speaks to media upon his arrival at Pagliarelli bunker courthouse for a...
