In 2017, the New York Times called Norilsk "Russia's coldest and most polluted industrial city." "The scale of the damage to Arctic waterways is unprecedented," said Dmitry Kobylkin, Russia's ecology minister, in a statement. Potanin, CEO of Norilsk Nickel and Russia's richest man, was publicly chastised by Putin in a televised press conference on June 5. Spill undermines Russia's development agendaOne reason the spill has attracted such a severe response, experts say, is its consequence for Russia's own image. In 2016, local Indigenous groups noted with alarm that the waters of the nearby river Daldykan had turned blood red , which Norilsk Nickel suggested was natural .

Source: CBC News July 13, 2020 09:56 UTC