Originally posted by the Voice of America. Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America, a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in the public domain. Report: Wildfires, Drought Cost Russia $15 Billion VOA News 10 August 2010 Soldiers pour water on smoldering tree trunks in a forest in the Noginsk district some 70 km east of Moscow, 10 Aug 2010 Photo: AP Soldiers pour water on smoldering tree trunks in a forest in the Noginsk district some 70 km east of Moscow, 10 Aug 2010 A Russian business newspaper says preliminary estimates show ongoing wildfires and drought will cost the Russian economy at least $15 billion. Kommersant said Tuesday the damage estimates from economic analysts are equivalent to one percent of Russia's Gross Domestic Product. The paper said the first official attempts to quantify weather-related economic losses will not come before the end of the year. Russia is one of the world's largest wheat growers, but the government banned grain exports last week in an effort to control domestic prices for wheat products and livestock feed. The ban came after agriculture officials slashed the country's grain forecast by 20 percent because of the weather. Moscow residents awoke to clear skies Tuesday for the first time in nearly a week, after a shift in wind direction pushed a choking pall of acrid smoke from nearby peat bogs away from the city. Smog reduced visibility in Moscow last week to 20 meters, forcing the city's 10 million residents indoors and triggering flight cancellations and delays. Forecasters warned Tuesday that temperatures hovering near 38 degrees Celsius and arid winds may continue for days. Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin sits in the cabin of a Russian firefighting aircraft Be-200 during the firefighting effort in Rayzan region some 250 km outside Moscow, 10 Aug 2010 AFP Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin sits in the cabin of a Russian firefighting aircraft Be-200 during the firefighting effort in Rayzan region some 250 km outside Moscow, 10 Aug 2010 Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, in a push to portray his direct role in battling the fires, boarded a firefighting plane Tuesday and released tons of water on two of the hundreds of wildfires roaring through western Russia. With television cameras in tow, Mr. Putin flew in the co-pilot's seat after the plane took off. The official death toll from weeks of record-setting drought, fire and high temperatures stands at 52. But Moscow's health chief Andrei Seltsovsky said Monday the mortality rate in Moscow alone has jumped from a daily norm of 350 deaths to around 700.  Federal health officials later challenged Seltsovsky's data, prompting him to caution Tuesday that it is too early to establish direct links between the spike in deaths and weather-related conditions in the city. Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters. More photos by VOA Russian service's Sergei Moskalev in Moscow .