Wildfires hit Russia amid unusually warm weather

Unusually warm temperatures in Russia's southern regions led to the spread of wildfires that have threatened hundreds of homes.

In Pskov region, over 100 fires have been recorded, while in the Voronezh region, firefighters fought to save the village of Mechyotka from a fire that threatened to damage 700 homes.

Dmitry Chernyshov, a villager in Mechyotka, said "I stepped outside and saw the house was totally on fire, and once it started there was nothing to be done."

Alexei Kirshin, the head of a firefighting train being used to douse the flames in Mechyotka, said 15 trucks with a capacity of 85 tonnes of water were being used.

Temperatures in Voronezh were as high as 25 degrees Celsius this week, though authorities are investigating whether the fires were man-made.

Fires burned down tens of millions of hectares of land in Russia last year, spurred by abnormally warm temperatures in regions such as the Arctic.