More than 20 people have died -- mainly elderly who were unable to flee -- as deadly wildfires continue to burn across Russia's Ural Mountains and Siberia.
Deadly Russian Wildfires Continue To Rage Across Urals And Siberia
Firefighters battle a wildfire near the village of Bogorodinskoye in Russia's Vologda region on May 7.
More than 4,800 firefighters and some 6,000 volunteers have been battling wildfires that have engulfed large areas of Russia's Ural Mountains and Siberia.
A firefighters work near the village of Bogorodinskoye as the sky glows red from the fires.
The state declared an emergency in the region and a partial evacuation as wildfires continued to burn.
A Russian Emergency Situations Ministry plane battles a wildfire in the Kurgan region on May 8.
The EU’s Copernicus atmosphere monitoring service said its data showed "active fires burning in a band stretching from Russia's Chelyabinsk region across Omsk and Novosibirsk regions to Primorye in the far east, affecting also Kazakhstan and Mongolia."
Emergency services and local citizens respond to a wildfire reaching residential buildings in the Tyumen region.
TASS reported the death toll had risen to 21 but is likely to increase as the fires continue.
Burned-out houses in the village of Yuldus in the Kurgan region
Fires began in late April in the Kurgan and Tyumen regions near the border with Kazakhstan.
A view from a helicopter shows smoke rising from a wildfire in the Kurgan Region in this still image taken from video released May 8.
Cows are seen by a burned-out house in the village of Yuldus.
Wildfires have long plagued Russia's forests and steppes during the hotter and drier months, but have grown in intensity in recent years.
A man pets a dog near burned-out houses in the village of Yuldus.
In 2021, the fire season was Russia's largest ever, with 18.8 hectares of forest burned, according to Greenpeace Russia.
At least 5,000 structures, including hundreds of homes, have burned in the fires.
Wildfires burn near Lake Polushinskoye, Tyumen region.
The Emergency Situations Ministry of the Kurgan region, near the border with Kazakhstan, said at least 46 suspects had been identified and seven criminal cases initiated on arson charges.