Russia says Siberian wildfires started on purpose by illegal loggers

FILE PHOTO: A view shows burnt ground and tree trunks following wildfires in the Zhigansky district of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Russia in this handout picture obtained by Reuters on July 30, 2019. Russian Emergencies Ministry in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)/Handout via REUTERS

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian prosecutors said on Tuesday that some of the vast Siberian wildfires that environmentalists have dubbed a climate emergency were started on purpose by arsonists trying to conceal illegal logging activity.

President Vladimir Putin called in the army last week to help firefighters battle fires raging in remote Siberian forestland that had spread to an area larger than Belgium and blanketed hundreds of villages and towns in smoke.