MOSCOW, July 24. /TASS/. The total land area currently consumed by natural fires within Russia comes to one million hectares, the press service of the Russian Emergencies Ministry told TASS on Monday.

"As of today, 267 epicenters of natural fires are raging over an area covering more than one million hectares across 19 regions of the Russian Federation," the press service said.

An increase in the number of high-temperature epicenters has been detected by space-based satellites. In the coming week, the Astrakhan Region, southern parts of the Volgograd Region and the neighboring Kalmykia Region may be facing a heightened risk of fire.

Last week, the Emergency Situations Ministry registered over 5,700 man-made fires. In the course of extinguishing them, 336 people have been rescued. The ministry noted a 19% decrease in the number of people killed in fires.