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By Brendan Cole
Senior Reporter
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Fires have engulfed huge swathes of Russia's Rostov region, with footage posted on social media showing the extent of the flames and smoke choking the sky.
The Rostov region in southwestern Russia borders Ukraine's Luhansk and Donetsk Oblasts. It is a key agricultural area providing more than a tenth of Russia's grain. However, it has faced early spring frosts and a subsequent drought this year which have decreased production by almost a third, Reuters reported.
A state of emergency has been declared in the region's Aksaysky and Neklinovsky districts with the Ministry of Regional Policy saying that because of the dry, hot weather "extreme fire danger remains," state news agency TASS reported Monday.
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Media outlets said that more than 50 fires had broken out on Sunday, threatening residential buildings and leading to some evacuations. By Monday, there had been 140 fires, according to regional governor Vasily Golubev.
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"Local residents have compared the situation in the city to the apocalypse," local news outlet Rostov Gazeta reported. The outlet said that areas of dry grass are burning in the Aksaysky district and that the fire had reached the left bank of the Don River.
More than 2,000 firefighters and 300 pieces of equipment were deployed to tackle the blazes that raged on Sunday and were spread by strong winds. Smoke engulfed the regional capital Rostov-on-Don, hindering visibility for drivers.
The Ministry of Emergency Situations, which Newsweek has contacted for comment, reported on Sunday that one fire covered 16,000 square feet and damaged six residential buildings.
Other buildings were ablaze in neighboring villages, leading to evacuations. Residents of the city have complained about the unbearable smell of burning, smoke and ash and those with breathing problems have been advised not to go outside.
Updates on Telegram by Golubev gave a sense of the how far the fires had spread. On Sunday, he said the blazes had been fueled by "strong winds, overlapping power lines and careless handling."
By 8 p.m. Sunday, he said that 29 buildings in the Aksaysky and Neklinovsky districts had been damaged but there were no casualties or fatalities and all residents who had lost their homes and property would be provided with assistance.
Forest fires in three districts of the region had spread over 9.5 hectares but were extinguished by the end of the day.
In an update on Monday morning, Golubev wrote that the region had seen nearly 140 fires, damaging a total of 30 buildings and burning down 13 residential premises.
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