You're reading: Wildfires destroy over 2,000 hectares in Russia

Khabarovsk- Twenty new forest fires have been registered in four regions of Russia's Far East - Yakutia, the Khabarovsk Territory, Chukotka and Kamchatka - over the past 24 hours, the Far East forestry department said in a press release on Friday.

Fourteen new wildfires were detected in Yakutia, three in the Khabarovsk Territory, two in Chukotka, and one in Kamchatka, it said.

“Wildfires have destroyed 2,053 hectares of woodlands in the past 24 hours, including 2,044 hectares on the territory of Yakutia,” the department said.

As of Friday morning, 13 wildfires are burning in Yakutia, three in the Khabarovsk Territory and one in Kamchatka.

A total of 800 people, 43 units of equipment and 11 aircraft, including six helicopters, are combating the blazes.

Up to 949 wildfires on an area of almost 542,000 hectares have been registered in the Far East since the beginning of the year.