The Ministry of Emergency Situations reported a forest fire with an area of 350 hectares near the village of Atamanovka in Transbaikalia.

The area of the forest fire near the village of Atamanovka in the Trans-Baikal Territory has reached 350 hectares. This was reported on June 22 in the Telegram channel of the Ministry of Emergency Situations.

152 people were involved in extinguishing a powerful fire, 26 pieces of equipment were involved, including an Mi-8 helicopter, an Il-76 aircraft and two Be-200ChS aircraft. Footage from the scene shows how thick smoke enveloped the streets of Atamanovka.

"It's hard to breathe. People have already started to evacuate their homes on their own," a local resident told Izvestia.

According to the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the fire is located "2.6 km from the village, there is no threat to residents."

Future fogs: forest fires in June may break out in almost 40 regions

In addition to the hot weather, there is a lack of moisture after a snowy winter, experts say.

The head of the Federal Forestry Agency, Ivan Sovetnikov, told Izvestia on June 20 on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF-2025) that fires had burned almost 3 million hectares of forest in Russia in the spring alone. In addition, the head of the Federal Forestry Agency said that the final results of the fire-affected area will be known in 2026 after clarifying part of the scorched area. He clarified that the causes of the fires lie in the heat and dry weather.