Rescuers save families, farm animals and one pet hamster after Russian floods

An Emergency Ministry serviceman carries a woman in a flooded earea in the Sakha Republic, also known as Yakutia, in the northeastern Siberia, Russia in this image release on July 18, 2025. Russian Emergencies Ministry/Handout via REUTERS

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Rescuers ferried more than 100 people to safety this week, along with their farm animals and pets, after floodwaters caused by heavy rain engulfed villages in a sparsely-populated part of eastern Russia.

Emergency crews piloted rubber dinghies down flooded streets in settlements in Russia's Sakha Republic, also known as Yakutia, a vast region larger than Argentina.