MOSCOW, August 24 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has instructed the emergencies ministry to send two airplanes to Greece to help in putting out wildfires, a ministry spokesman said on Monday.

Greece has been swept by fires over the past few days, including a severe blaze to the northeast of Athens. Thousands of acres of forest and dozens of homes have been destroyed, and thousands of residents have been evacuated. No deaths have been reported.

"On the instructions of the president, the emergencies ministry will send two firefighting airplanes to Greece - an Il-76 (Candid) and Be-200 (Altair)," the spokesman told RIA Novosti.

So far France, Italy and Cyprus have sent firefighting airplanes and helicopters to Greece.

Five helicopters are currently fighting a fire to the northwest of Athens, which is threatening forests on the coast of the Corinthian Gulf, four airplanes are working on the island of Euboea in the Aegean Sea, and one more on the island of Zante in the Ionian Sea.

In 2007, fires that raged for 10 days on Greece's Peloponnese Peninsula claimed 65 lives.