Kemerovo snow was painted white to hide dirt and soot (Representative Image)
Authorities in the coal-mining region of Kemerovo in Siberia, Russia, have been accused of covering up snow with white paint to hide signs of pollution. According to The Moscow Times, local authorities used white sticky paint to camouflage signs of soot and ash.
Footage shared by local media on Monday shows a woman playing in snow, only to find her hands turned white due to the paint.
"You can see the stains... It even sticks," she said while demonstrating the substance on her fingers, according to a translation provided by The Moscow Times.
Watch the video below:
According to local reports, the head of the town - Dmitry Ivanov - ordered the removal of the paint and reprimanded the officials responsible for it.
"I apologize to the townspeople whose New Year's mood was spoiled by this," he said in a statement on Wednesday.
According to Prague Civil Society Centre, an organization that promotes social change throughout Eastern Europe and Central Asia, "black snow" is common in Russia.
"Black snow caused by coal dust is a common phenomenon in Russia's Far East," says the organisation on its website.
"Although trade in coal is providing a welcome boost to the region's struggling economy, it is having a devastating effect on both the environment and health of its inhabitants... The black coal dust combines with the falling snow and turns it black."
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