A volunteer from Moscow, who refused to be identified, tries to extinguish forest fire, which came close to a village of Kovrigino, some 74 km ( about 46 miles) east of Moscow early Friday, Aug 13, 2010. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)
Pavel Golovkin-AP
A Russian firefighter sprays water on a blaze some 155 km south of Moscow in Shatura on August 13, 2010. Accusations are growing in the Russian media and on the Internet that authorities have sought to play down the impact of the worst heatwave in its history by failing to disclose the true death toll. AFP PHOTO / VIKTOR DRACHEV (Photo credit should read VIKTOR DRACHEV/AFP/Getty Images)
Viktor Drachev-AFP/Getty Images
Aug. 12, 2010
Oleg Mikhailov, 42, whose house burned to the ground, cleans coins that he found at the site of a fire in the village of Kartonosovo.
Misha Japaridze-AP
Aug. 12, 2010
Oleg Mikhailov, 42, his father Valentin, 74, and son Anatoly, 20, clear the site where their house burned down in the village of Kartonosovo.
Misha Japaridze-AP
Aug. 12, 2010
A Russian firefighter sprays water on a forest fire blaze at the Losiny Ostrov nature reserve in Moscow. Russia stepped up efforts to halt wildfires near its main nuclear research site, as President Dmitry Medvedev said one-quarter of its crops have been lost in a record heatwave.
Alexey Sazonov-AFP/Getty Images
Aug. 12, 2010
A boy rides a bicycle on burnt ground, amidst heavy smog outside the town of Shatura.
Sergei Karpukhin-Reuters
Aug. 12, 2010
Riot police officers, background, and Russian Army paratroopers, foreground, unload a truck full of supplies sent by a Russian Orthodox church to people affected by the wildfires in the village of Laskovoye.
Misha Japaridze-AP
Aug. 11, 2010
Volunteers ride a trailer as they prepare to extinguish a forest fire near the village of Tokhushevo. A new wildfire broke out Wednesday near a major nuclear research center in the Russian town of Sarov, causing the plant's management to ask firefighters and troops to reverse their withdrawal.
Viktor Drachev-AFP/Getty Images
Aug. 10, 2010
A fire engine waits along a road while smoke from a wildfire clouds the air outside the settlement of Kustarevka.
Denis Sinyakov-Reuters
August 10, 2010
A firefighter works to extinguish a wildfire outside the settlement of Kustarevka in the Ryazan region, about 211 miles southeast of Moscow.
Denis Sinyakov-Reuters
August 9, 2010
A man takes a drink of water as he tries to extinguish a forest fire near the village of Polyaki-Maydan. Scorching heat and acrid smoke have nearly doubled death rates in Moscow, a city official said on Monday, as a shroud of smog from raging forest and peat fires beset Russia's capital for a third week.
Denis Sinyakov-Reuters
August 10, 2010
Russian soldiers spray water on a blaze in the forest near Noginsk.
Viktor Drachev-AFP/Getty Images
August 10, 2010
A Bulgarian firefighter drinks water from a fire hose while fighting a blaze in the forest near Noginsk.
Viktor Drachev-AFP/Getty Images
August 9, 2010
A local resident watches as firefighters work to extinguish fire at a house in Berestyanki.
Denis Sinyakov-Reuters
August 8, 2010
A resident works to extinguish flames after grass was set on fire to form a barrier for new wildfire outbursts, outside the village of Korovino, about 56 miles southeast of Moscow. Moscow doctors said they were wary of diagnosing patients with heat and smoke-related illnesses out of fear they will lose their jobs, hinting at Russia's long record of covering up the impact of disasters.
Mikhail Voskresensky-Reuters
August 9, 2010
Tourists with face masks walk along Red Square in a thick blanket of smog, in Moscow. The Russian capital's chief health official reportedly says the number of deaths in Moscow is twice as high as usual because of smog suffocating the city from ongoing wildfires nearby. The Interfax news agency quotes Andrei Seltsovky on Monday as saying there are now 1,300 bodies in city morgues, which have a 1,500 person capacity.
Alexander Zemlianichenko-AP
August 8, 2010
The sun is seen through heavy smog in Moscow, from forest fires throughout Russia.
Andrey Smirnov-AFP/Getty Images
August 8, 2010
Residents set grass on fire to create a firebreak, a barrier which slows down or stops new wildfire outbursts, outside the village of Korovino.
Mikhail Voskresensky-Reuters
August 5, 2010
A man tries to stop a fire near Golovanovo, Russia. Russia is struggling to contain the worst wildfires in its modern history. Fifty people have died, and President Dmitry Medvedev fired top military officers for negligence in the catastrophe.
Natalia Kolesnikova-AFP/Getty Images
August 5, 2010
Forest fire smog engulfs the Russian Foreign Ministry building in Moscow. With the week-long crisis showing no sign of abating amid Russia's worst heat wave in decades, the emergencies ministry said hundreds of new fires had started over the past day as more dead bodies were found.
Boris Yelenin-AFP/Getty Images
August 5, 2010
This NASA satellite image shows smoke from wildfires burning throughout Russia. Russia waged a losing battle to contain the worst wildfires in its modern history, as Prime Minister Vladimir Putin banned grain exports due to the drought. New fires were appearing faster than the emergency services could put out the old ones as the total affected area nationwide increased by around 482,000 acres.
Ho-AFP/Getty Images
August 5, 2010
Sergei Semanov, 53, together with his neighbors, tries to extinguish a forest fire very close to their homes in the village of Murmino, 111 miles southeast of Moscow. Temperatures up to 100 degrees Fahrenheit have exacerbated forest and peat bog fires across Russia's central and western regions, destroying close to 2,000 homes.
Str-AP
August 5, 2010
Olga Ivanova cleans debris from the charred remains of burnt out homes in the village of Peredeltsy.
Artyom Korotayev-AFP/Getty Images
August 5, 2010
A girl rides her bicycle past the charred remains of a home in Voronez.
Alexey Sazonov-AFP/Getty Images
August 4, 2010
Local residents attempt to extinguish a forest fire near the village of Dolginino in the Ryazan region. Over the past 24 hours, firefighters have extinguished 293 fires, but 403 others have been spotted while more than 500 have continued to rage over large swaths of countryside.
Str-AP
August 4, 2010
People walk past the smog-shrouded Kremlin in Moscow. Air-quality levels in Moscow tumbled to an eight-year low Wednesday as the Russian capital was blanketed in thick smoke from forest and peat fires.
Sergei Karpukhin-Reuters
August 4, 2010
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, center, visits a site of recent wildfire near the city of Voronezh.
Ria Novosti-Reuters
August 4, 2010
People wear face masks to protect themselves from the forest fire smog near St. Basil's cathedral on Red Square in Moscow. The death toll from the wildfires that have ravaged Russia has risen to 50, and more than 400 new fires were recorded in the past 24 hours.
Natalia Kolesnikova-AFP/Getty Images
August 4, 2010
Teenagers jump into fountains to cool themselves in Alexandrovsky Garden near the Kremlin in Moscow. Usually Russia's summer snags are little more than a brief irritation: a few days of heat, followed by cooling rains. This year is different. Moscow, a city that has beaten back huge military assaults and survived horrifying terrorist attacks, is under a quiet siege that it seems helpless to repel.
Sergey Ponomarev-AP
August 4, 2010
A fire fighter attempts to extinguish a forest fire near the village of Dolginino.
Str-AP
August 4, 2010
Ships cruise along the Moskva River despite a thick blanket of smog covering Moscow.
Mikhail Metzel-AP
August 4, 2010
The end of a bridge across the Moskva River is seen through a thick blanket of smog hanging over Moscow.
Sergey Ponomarev-AP
August 4, 2010
Aircraft are seen at the smog-covered Vnukovo airport in Moscow.
Denis Sinyakov-Reuters
August 4, 2010
A man moves debris inside the charred remains of his burnt out home in Voronezh. Explosive and radioactive materials have been removed from Russia's top secret nuclear research facility due to wildfires raging in the region.
Alexey Sazonov-AFP/Getty Images
August 4, 2010
Boys cool off in a fountain in the southern city of Stavropol. A heat wave has engulfed central parts of Russia since mid-June, pushing temperatures to the highest levels since records began to be kept.
Eduard Korniyenko-REUTERS
August 3, 2010
Firefighters work to extinguish fire and prevent new ignitions outside the town of Elektrogorsk. Efforts to fight Russia's devastating forest fires have been crippled by a law passed four years ago at the behest of Putin and powerful logging interests according to environmentalists.
Denis Sinyakov-Reuters
August 3, 2010
Townspeople protect themselves from thick smoke from a forest fire near the town of Elektrogorsk.
Sergey Ponomarev-AP
August 3, 2010
Russian people dig a ditch to protect them from fires in the village of Mokhovoye. President Dmitry Medvedev has declared a state of emergency in seven Russian regions over the fires, which have left tens of thousands of hectares of land ablaze and uprooted hundreds from their homes.
Andrey Smirnov-AFP/Getty Images
A Russian man walks down the street in the burnt out village of Mokhovoye.
Andrey Smirnov-AFP/Getty Images
Gallery Credits:
Photo Editor, Producer Allison Slomowitz
Text Editor Milos Balac
