Germany has agreed to fly 100,000 breathing masks to Moscow, where wildfires have led to a dramatic increase in toxic air pollution, government sources said on Saturday.
The German interior ministry also pledged to provide equipment including hoses, pumps and electricity generators to help the Russian emergency services combat some 840 forest and peat bog fires, caused by record heat and the worst drought in a century, dpa reported.
Russia's Civil Defence Ministry had requested German aid, a ministry statement said.
Last week, Chancellor Angela Merkel had offered German help to President Dmitry Medvedev, a proposition that had initially gone unanswered.