PLANES SEED CLOUDS AS BLAZES NEAR POWER PLANT

Russian planes seeded clouds to bring down rain on huge wildfires raging in the Siberian region of Yakutia that in one place spread dangerously close to a hydroelectric power plant, authorities said on Monday.

Fires have flared across Russia amid a heatwave, tearing through over 1.5 million hectares of land in Yakutia, the worst-hit region. On Sunday, officials told people to stay indoors and to keep windows shut due to the smoke.

The regional capital Yakutsk, sometimes known as the planet's coldest city, was forced to suspend flights at its airport due to bad visibility.

Fires in the area have become more intense in recent years amid unusually high temperatures across the northern Siberian tundra.