394 forest fires raging in Russia

394 forest fires overwhelmed more than 27,000 hectares in Russia over the last 24 hours, the press service of the Russian Ministry of Emergencies informed RIA Novosti on Friday. At the same time 54 new forest fires emerged.

According to information provided by the Emergencies Ministry, the most severe fires are in the Siberian Federal District, with 161 in the Irkutsk region, 105 in the Chita region, and 46 in Buryatia.

6,409 people, 1,060 units of machinery and 66 aircraft have been involved to fight the fires.

This year has seen 12,585 fires in the territory of more than 1 mln hectares.