Officials say cities in the remote Siberian region of Khakassia are endangered as wildfires are raging in the steppes nearby.
Local emergencies chief Irina Butenko said firefighters have been deployed dozens of times since last week.
"Wildfires are being registered all over Khakassia," Butenko told RIA Novosti on Tuesday, adding that more than half of the region's cities are situated in the steppe.
Located in southern Siberia more than 4,000 km east of Moscow, Khakassia is home to the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric plant, Russia's largest, where an accident in August 2009 killed 75 people.
ABAKAN, April 5 (RIA Novosti)
