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© RIA Novosti. Mikhail VoskresenskyFloods in Russia’s Far East Cost Farmers $260M
The cost to agriculture in Russia's flood-hit Far East is estimated at 8.5 billion rubles ($260 million), Russia's Agriculture Ministry said Monday.

More than 627,000 hectares of agricultural land, or 40 percent of crop areas, have been affected by the floods, the ministry said in a statement.

Some 140 towns and villages in the Amur Region, the Khabarovsk Territory and the Jewish Autonomous Region have been inundated following heavy rains. Nearly 28,500 people have been affected by floods in the three regions.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has called on local authorities to ensure that funds allocated to the flood victims reach them. "This situation needs to be controlled," he said.