Russian heatwave fires claim 50 lives

Almost 600 separate fires were still burning, mostly in western Russia, as the country endured its hottest summer on record.

The director of the animal shelter, in the village of Khoteichi, 40 miles east of Moscow, said volunteers had already extinguished a fire that came within 150 yards and were bracing themselves for more blazes. The shelter is home to more than 1,800 animals, mainly dogs, but also bears, monkeys, foxes and tortoises.

"With the speed of fire, we don't know if we can save them all," Sergei Serdyuk said.

Nearby fire stations did not answer calls – one official hung up as soon as he heard the word fire, said Mr Serdyuk

Thick smog that had blanketed Moscow partially lifted but could return with no end in sight to a record heat wave that has seen temperatures up to 38C dry out forest and peat bogs across Russia's central and western regions, destroying close to 2,000 homes.

Officials have suggested the 10,000 firefighters battling the blazes are not enough. The forecast for the week ahead shows little change in the capital and surrounding regions, where the average summer temperature is usually around 23C.

In the blaze-ravaged village of Plotava, some 35 miles east of Moscow, local official Viktor Sorokin complained that the number of fire wardens in woodland and peat bog areas had halved to 150 the last few years under new rules.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has promised to build new, better homes before winter, and vowed each victim would receive 3,800 compensation.

To the east, firefighters focused on beating flames back from a top-secret nuclear research facility in the city of Sarov.