Russian firefighters extinguished 35 wildfires though more than 6,000 hectares of land are still engulfed in flames, the Emergency Ministry announced. Russia is in the grips of the hottest summer in recorded history and the worst drought in nearly 40 years. Firefighters have made progress in controlling the blazes raging across the country, however. The number of so-called hot spots was down and the area consumed by fires fell by 8,000 hectares last week. The Emergency Ministry said around 6,300 hectares of land were still burning, though the number of blazes was down during the weekend, Russia's state-run news agency RIA Novosti reported. The wildfires in Russia have claimed 53 lives and left more than 3,500 people homeless during blazes that have consumed parts of the country for nearly three weeks, UPI reported. Moscow, meanwhile, declared a state of emergency in parts of the country as the drought claims 10.7 million hectares of agricultural crops.
