An investigation is underway in Tyva region over thousands of people being left without heating in temperatures of minus 40C.
269 workers at Olimpiada gold mine in Krasnoyarsk region test virus positive.
Drivers take 12 days covering 7,000km to see how new 'plug-in' rechargeable cars cope with climate and landscape.
'Second Spring' arrives with rhododendron blossoming for rare encore in October.
A quarter of all Russian forests, 89% of stocks in Sakha Republic, could be left to burn, even though they are essential to fight global warming.
'This is a very good signal to the Russian and international energy markets', Russian president stressed.
New statistics on Saturday showed the vast scale of the human effort in Russia to halt a natural disaster that has destroyed swathes of woodland and taiga.