Russian firefighter works to extinguish a fire in a forest near the village of Ryazanovskiy, about 150 km from Moscow, Russia. Photo by EPA/BGNES
Russia’s Ministry for Emergency Situations has announced that there has been a stabilization of the forest and peat fires around Moscow for the first time in two weeks.
For the first time in the last 24 hours the put-out fires around Moscow have outnumbered the newly started ones.
The situation in the Russian Belgorod, Tambov, Lipetsk and Tula central federal subjects is improving.
The fires are also getting under control in the areas of the Republic of Tatarstan, the Orenburg, Penza and Ulyanovsk federal subjects in the Volga Federal District in Russia.
According to an official from the Ministry for Emergency Situations, the number of people who have died in the devastating wildfires has reached 52. Thousands of people's homes have also been destroyed.