Russia has sent its army in to battle forest fires that are threatening dozens of towns and villages.

At least 28 people have died in the thick smoke and flames that have caused rescue services to evacuate at least 300 homes in the village of Maslovka.

Many homes in the area have been reduced to rubble through the fire-storm, which has been labelled a catastrophe by the Russian government.

The death toll from the fires has been registered as 25 people.

All of the army's fire trucks have been despatched from Moscow to the hottest regions in Russia, where over 214,000 acres of forest and peat bog has been burning in shockingly hot conditions.

Many regions in Russia have been suffering through their hottest summer since record-keeping began 130 years ago.

On the weekend, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin announced that $100,000 would be allocated for each of the homes destroyed so far.

He promised that all would eventually be rebuilt.