Oilmen forced to stop work after being trapped in 'horseshoe' of burning taiga, as pall of smoke smothers Irkutsk region where state of emergency imposed.

Blazes raging just 50km from the Arctic Ocean in Yakutia.

Tearful plea on president's televised call-in leads to promise to overcome carnage in Khakassia and Chita.

Here we go back in time and remember 13 remarkable moments of 2013.

Il-76 plane crashed while battling wildfires; Minister vows 'We will never forget them.'

A family was rescued by helicopter after chopping birch trees and using them to spell 'SOS' when they were ringed by blazing wildfires.

Hunting inspector Vladimir Malkov rescued the wild animal as a baby after its mother perished in wildfires.

Abnormally hot May weather resembles midsummer with air temperatures as high as +35C.

As one area continues to fight blaze, communities in tragedy-hit Khakassia show that human spirit and togetherness can prevail.

Thousands of hectares of land ablaze with no signs of a let-up.