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Moscow's health chief has confirmed the mortality rate in the city has doubled, as a heatwave and wildfire smog continue to grip the Russian capital.

The deaths have not been directly linked to the smog and heat, but at least 52 deaths in Russia as a whole have been attributed directly to the wildfires overall.

Here, readers in Moscow describe how they are struggling to cope with the continuing severe heat and smog.

Irina, Moscow

The situation in the city is totally devastating.

I feel like a smoked fish placed in an oven.

I had to ask my boss if I could leave the city, and then fled to St. Petersburg to stay with my relatives.

I did not care how much the tickets cost.

I just had to get away from the hell that is Moscow right now.

I grabbed the first available tickets and fled.

I could not imagine that something like that was possible. God save us.

Bekir Birden, Moscow

Moscow is not used to this kind of heat, which makes it devastating, and the smog has made the situation even more unimaginable.

The city looks like a ghost town during the day with a dark sun burning overhead.

The air we inhale is acrid and hard.

The worst thing is that there is no clear explanation of how this smog is affecting our health.

Some say the affects will be only temporary, others are saying it could be permanent.

Anatoli Bahdanovich, Moscow

It is absolutely unbearable in Moscow.

Constant headaches and insomnia seem to be the result of C02 and other particles in the air.

Today [Monday], it is as bad as it was last Friday.

If you have the option of staying away from Moscow, please do so, because you never know whether the reports on C02 and other particle concentration are actually true.

Things could be much worse than they are currently being reported.

As the smog situation worsened on Friday, my employer allowed us to leave the office.

I headed to Tula, a town 190km to the south of the city, to stay with friends.

The journey does not take more than two hours on a regular day, but it took me around six hours to get there on Friday.

Alex Woodhead, Moscow

I have been working in Moscow for two weeks now, and for the last week the smog has been very thick.

Visibility is down to 200metres and my symptoms include stinging eyes and a sore throat.

I consider myself to be fit and healthy, I can't imagine what it is like for the elderly, the young and people with conditions like asthma.

I am seriously thinking of leaving as soon as possible but this will cause a lot of disruption on my work.

Maybe I will just have to ride it out.

Yana Tulchinskaya, Moscow

We are trying to find places with air conditioning to hide.

It is impossible to buy face masks or oxygen masks in pharmacies.

It is also impossible to find any air conditioners.

Children are being evacuated wherever possible.

Pregnant women are really suffering.

The affect on our health is unclear and frightening.