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STORY: A series of fires and floods have hit Russia, causing authorities to declare a state of emergency in the country's Mordovia region, where rising waters have forced hundreds to evacuate their homes.
In Russia's Baikal region in East Siberia, a forest fire spread to the outskirts of a village, destroying several barns and fences.
According to media reports, the fires were started by a soldier at a nearby military camp who threw away a cigarette butt into some grass near the camp site.
In Mordovia spring floods prompted a state of emergency to be declared. More than 30 villages are cut off by high water with more than a thousand houses flooded.
