Catastrophic forest fires — spurred by hot and dry weather — have ravaged vast areas of Siberia, and ruined the region’s ecosystem, said Russian ecologists.

Fires have destroyed 100,000 sq km of forests across Russia — an area bigger than Bihar — since the start of the summer season this year, according to Russia’s Greenpeace. The situation is worst in central Siberia, where fires have ravaged 50,000 sq km of forests. Authorities claim the estimates are greatly overblown. The Emergencies Ministry said the fires have so far covered an area of 6,530 sq km. However, Greenpeace maintains that its figures are far more accurate as they are based on satellite imagery.