Nearly 240,000 people are fighting wildfires and peat bog fires in Russia's regions, a spokeswoman for the Emergencies Ministry's information service said on Saturday.

Over the last 24 hours, over 1,000 homes have been destroyed and entire villages burned to the ground in the largest wildfire ever to hit the European part of Russia.

"Work is being done to protect residential areas, as well as extinguishing hotspots," the spokeswoman said, adding "238,000 were involved" in the fight against the wildfires.

According to the Emergencies Ministry's figures on Saturday morning, some 121,500 hectares of forest are burning. There are also 18 peat bog fires, 9 of which are in the Central Federal District.

An emergency situation has been announced in 14 regions in Russia. Thousands of people have been left homeless.

Temperatures across much of western and central Russia have topped 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit) during the past five weeks, causing peat bog and forest fires and creating what is thought to be the worst drought since 1972.

MOSCOW, July 31 (RIA Novosti)