Almost 50 forest fires burning on an area of 6,000 hectares were extinguished in the east of Russia in the past day, the press service of the country's Aerial Forest Protection Service (Avialesokhrana) said on Tuesday.

"The information provided by the forest protection service's regional monitoring centers indicates that 49 forest fires covering an area of 5,998 hectares were extinguished in Russia on August 12," the press service said.

Forest fires are now raging on an area of 266,393 hectares in Russia, which is 17,000 hectares less than the day before.

According to Avialesokhrana, the most wildfires are currently burning in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, where efforts are underway to put out 61 forest fires on an area of 145,495 hectares. Firefighters are combating 54 forest fires on an area of 121,629 hectares in the Irkutsk region, and another 14 forest fires on an area of 1,187 hectares in Yakutia.