Smog shrouds Moscow as wildfires continue to blaze

A CHOKING smog from raging wildfires shrouded Moscow, grounding flights, plunging the city’s iconic Red Square into a sea of dirty mist and stinging eyes and throats across the Russian capital.

Flocks of tourists had to don face masks just to tread the square’s historic cobblestones, straining to photograph the Kremlin’s barely visible spires and the hazy domes of St Basil’s Cathedrals.

Airborne pollutants such as carbon monoxide were four times higher than average readings – the worst seen to date in Moscow, city health officials reported.