Nine open pit coal mines encircle this city of 90,000 people in Russia's Kuzbass region, the epicentre of the country's coal production, 3,700 kilometres east of the capital, Moscow. Video asks Trudeau for helpFor years, thousands of families have pleaded with local and regional authorities to move them farther away from the encroaching coal mines. WATCH | Drone footage shows scale of coal mining near Kiselyovsk:Bird's-eye view of mines near Kiselyovsk, Russia CBC News 1:27 Many residents in Kiselyovsk, a Siberian mining town, say the pollution from the open-pit coal mines nearby harms their quality of life. The only substantive progress Kiselyovsk residents say they can point to is that a smouldering field that would occasionally burst into flames has now been covered in clay. Vitaly Shestyakov was among the Kiselyovsk residents who made a video pleading with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to let them come to Canada as environmental refugees.

Source: CBC News June 15, 2021 07:52 UTC