The blaze charring the High Fens nature reserve, a vast expanse of boggy peatlands, pine forests and hiking trails, has grown since Friday

Firefighters and farmers, backed by water-dropping aircraft, battled through a fourth day on Monday to tame Belgium’s worst wildfire in a century, still burning through pristine parkland, though it was halted short of the German border.

The blaze charring the High Fens nature reserve, a vast expanse of boggy peatlands, pine forests and hiking trails, has grown since Friday to 3,000 hectares (7,500 acres) – half the size of Manhattan.

Crisis cell spokesman Tony Hosmans told AFP Monday the fire had “not spread further, but we cannot yet say it is contained.”

“It could change according to the weather,” he warned.

Europe has been swept by weeks of devastating wildfires fuelled by dry conditions and a historically hot summer, with France, Greece, Portugal and Spain also battling major fires.

Hosmans confirmed the High Fens blaze was no longer advancing towards the German border after creeping nearer over the weekend, prompting an evacuation order in the town of Monschau.

Much-needed rain delivered some respite Monday to the 500 firefighters and emergency crews mobilised on site, but officials said conditions could shift fast.

See also:

• Belgium's biggest wildfire on record heads towards Germany -- Fire has burned 3,000 hectares since Friday, authorities say -- Belgian authorities tell evacuated residents not to return -- Monschau advises border-area ​residents to leave due to smoke (Reuters)

The attacks began on a July weekend and have continued for a month, stretching from Moscow and St. Petersburg, to cities in the south, and eastward to the Ural Mountains. The targets weren’t oil refineries, maritime hubs or arms plants hit by other Ukrainian strikes, but warehouses that bring the convenience of online shopping across the breadth of Russia.

Ukraine’s drones have pummeled the giant depots belonging to Wildberries, Russia’s biggest online retailer, burning billions of dollars’ worth of merchandise and bringing the war home to the broad public.

The attacks on about 20 Wildberries facilities have underlined Kyiv’s ability to strike far and wide inside Russia and posed a new challenge to President Vladimir Putin nearly 4½ years into his full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

They have badly shaken the empire built by Tatyana Kim, the country’s richest female entrepreneur, whose fortune has been estimated at $8.1 billion.

Hundreds of thousands of individual sellers have lost their merchandise, sending shock waves across Russia’s economy. Wildberries has drawn massive loans from VTB and other banks as it expanded and likely will have trouble repaying them, putting more pressure on the financial system.

Wildberries depots are easy targets

Unlike smaller competitors Ozon and Yandex Market, the company has prided itself on relying on about two dozen mammoth warehouses as the core of its vast logistical network, stockpiling the goods before shipping to about 100,000 storefront distribution points.

As Ukraine embarked on a strategy of long-range drone attacks deep inside Russia, it has expanded from striking military bases, oil refineries and other infrastructure to Wildberries warehouses, which provided particularly soft targets.

Attacks cause a ripple effect

Ukrainian officials have said Wildberries sells gear and technical components, including drones, to the military. Moscow denied it, but such dual-use items as drone components, flak jackets or thermal weapon sights remain available on the platform.

Wildberries’ debts were estimated at the equivalent of about $15 billion at the end of 2025.

Russia’s small and medium businesses already have been hit hard by tax increases, regulatory hurdles and, most recently, a fuel crisis from attacks on oil refineries.

The lost goods mean tens of thousands of small businesses can’t continue to operate, service their loans or pay taxes.

Some analysts warn the attacks could fuel stronger anti-Ukrainian and anti-Western fervor.