Nine firefighting parachutists were killed Wednesday as they battled a wildfire in southern Siberia, Russian media reported, citing forestry officials.

A group of 13 smokejumpers were flown in to fight a fast-spreading wildfire which quickly destroyed a 500 hectare (1.2 million acre) area of forest, the Russian forestry service told news agency Interfax.

"Four left the fire zone, nine died," the service said of the wildfire in the remote Russian republic of Tuva, which borders Mongolia.

Since the start of the year, forest and steppe fires have devastated several Russian communities and killed at least one other person.

Summer 2010 saw unprecedented wildland fires, especially on the European side of the vast country.

About 60 people were killed, more than 3,000 homes were destroyed along with about 200 communities, and millions of hectares of forest and steppe were burned.