Russia's emergencies ministry is battling to extinguish wildfires engulfing forests in eastern Siberia.

The fires have forced school closures in Bratsk and Ust-Kut, in the Irkutsk region, where thousands of children have been sent home according to local media.

According to Greenpeace some two million hectares were on fire last week, with authorities struggling to contain the flames.

Greenpeace says the massive amounts of carbon released by the fires is a climate change threat and endangers local communities.

The international environmental group says millions of people are suffering from toxic smoke in Yekaterinburg, Krasnoyarsk and other Russian cities.

The Siberian regional centre of the Emergencies Ministry released video showing ground and air operations to combat the forest fires in areas including the Bratsk district.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.