Vladimir Putin’s government is facing a fresh wave of anger after residents of a Siberian city accused authorities of covering up a foul-smelling environmental “catastrophe” while pouring resources into the war in Ukraine.
People living in Tyumen say their city has been overwhelmed by polluted water, rotting fish and a sickening stench that has lingered for weeks.
“It’s some kind of apocalypse,” a resident named Elizaveta told the independent Russian outlet Meduza. “The water reeks, the air reeks, the city is under water.”
She claimed officials appeared determined to pretend everything was “fine” despite mounting complaints from the public.
Another resident, Albina, described the water as a horrifying mixture of chemicals, dead animals and poultry-farm waste.
“A terrible smell, the entire periodic table, dead fish, and poultry-farm waste in our water,” she said.
Residents said the crisis began after severe flooding along the Tura River. Local authorities initially insisted the water remained safe, even as people reported becoming sick and developing alarming skin problems.
Albina said massive red blotches appeared across her body.
“They swell up, and they itch and burn unbearably,” she said.
Fear quickly spread across the city, with residents refusing to drink the water or use it for cooking, bathing and washing produce. Some were reportedly afraid to even give it to their pets.
One woman said she trusted the official assurances and drank the tap water, only to become ill for five days.
“No one is helping,” she said.
The outrage has also fueled criticism of Putin’s war spending.
One resident claimed ordinary Russians had been abandoned because government money was being directed toward the Kremlin’s so-called “special military operation” in Ukraine.
“All the financing is going towards those three famous letters,” the person said, referring to the Russian abbreviation SVO.
Other residents described a stomach-turning scene along the riverbanks.
“You can’t stand to be anywhere in the city near the Tura,” one man told Meduza, saying the area smelled like human waste.
He also reported seeing dead fish and even footage of a dead roe deer floating in the polluted water.
After weeks of public fury, authorities finally declared an emergency and opened a criminal investigation into the source of the pollution.
Alexander Bastrykin, the powerful head of Russia’s Investigative Committee and an old school friend of Putin, demanded an official progress report on the probe.
For residents, however, the action came far too late.
“In 50-odd years I’ve never seen water problems like this,” a man named Yevgeny said.
He said the water had occasionally appeared yellow in the past, but had never carried such a strong sewage-like odor.
“And meanwhile they’re trumpeting everywhere that there’s no problem at all,” he added.
A tanker carrying clean water finally arrived in Tyumen on Friday. Video reportedly showed enormous lines of desperate residents waiting with bottles and containers.
Authorities are now examining a roughly 224-mile stretch of the Tura River.
The official explanation blamed oxygen deprivation caused by extreme weather. The region received approximately 260 percent of its normal monthly rainfall in June, followed by unusually hot temperatures.
Officials said the heavy rain washed huge amounts of soil and organic material into the river. As that material decomposed, it stripped oxygen from the water and suffocated large numbers of fish.
Residents were not officially advised to stop drinking the tap water until July 24 — weeks after the first complaints surfaced.
Many locals remain deeply skeptical of the government’s explanation. They believe pollution from poultry operations and other sources may also be involved.
Some fear the damage could last for months or even years.
“The consequences will be terrible,” one woman warned, “for people, for agriculture, and for the river ecosystem.”
