President Medvedev ordered the army to move into the affected parts of central Russia with its heavy equipment to assist over 240,000 rescuers battling the forest fires.
Raging forest fires engulfed parts of central Russia killing at least 23 people and destroying hundreds of homes, forcing president Dmitry Medvedev to summon the army to join the rescue effort.
At least 23 people were killed and scores were injured in the advancing wildfires in Nizhny Novgorod, Voronezh, Moscow and Ryazan regions, where over a thousand homes were gutted leaving hundreds of families homeless, agencies reported quoting Emergency authorities.
President Medvedev ordered the army to move into the affected parts of central Russia with its heavy equipment to assist over 240,000 rescuers battling the forest fires.
The blaze tore through villages, forcing mass evacuations, even as Moscow suffered a record heat wave and smog cloud caused by peat-bog fires.
Russian channels showed a telephonic conversation between Medvedev and prime minister Vladimir Putin, with the latter urging the supreme commander from the worst-hit Nizhny Novgorod, to issue orders to the military to join the fire-fighting operations.
ITAR-TASS reported that after their telephonic conversation, Medvedev issued orders to the military.
According to Interfax, at least 23 people were killed in forest fires, while scores, including over 50 injured in Voronezh, are under treatment in hospitals.
Due to strong winds, the wildfires have stepped into the city limits of Voronezh, major agro-industrial centre 450 km from here.
By this morning, more than 270 houses were destroyed in Voronezh and over 550 in the Nizhny Novgorod region, RIA Novosti reported quoting Emergency Situations Ministry.
Prime minister Putin, who rushed to Nizhny Novgorod to assess the situation, visited the worst-hit village of Vyksa, where all the 340 homes were gutted.
Talking to agitated residents, he promised to rebuild the new village from scratch before the winter sets in and announced 200,000 roubles (a little over Rs 3 lakh) compensation per head.
He also ordered the local municipal heads to submit their resignations for their failure to take preventive measures in the abnormal heat and the worst drought being faced by the country since 1972.
The Emergency Situations Ministry has summoned additional fire-fighting units from remote parts of the country, where the weather is favourable.
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