YEKATERINBURG, May 7. /TASS/. Forest fires in Russia’s Urals region of Sverdlovsk exceeded 33,000 hectares as of Saturday night, the regional Department of Information Policy said on Sunday.

Regional Governor Yevgeny Kuivashev said on Telegram on Saturday that the blazes had engulfed 20,000 hectares.

"The number of specialists combating wildfires in the Middle Urals has been increased to 2,500. In addition, the firefighting activities involve 496 units of equipment. A total of 53 forest fires were active in the Sverdlovsk Region at the end of the day on May 6, scorching over 33,000 hectares of woodland," the department pointed out.

Fifteen blazes were extinguished in the past day. Firefighting activities particularly involve helicopters of the Russian Emergencies Ministry and the Defense Ministry, along with Il-76 and Be-200 aircraft. Two Mi-8 helicopters have been deployed to the region from the Sever inter-regional forest monitoring center in Krasnoyarsk.

The governor earlier introduced special fire safety rules across the region, saying that the fire situation was critical.