The Russian newspaper "Siberian Times" published a report on "Black Snow" covering three Russian cities in the province of Kemerovo, namely Prokopysk, Kislyovsk and Leninsk-Kuznetski, famous for coal mines.
Local photos, published by the newspaper, show disturbing black winter scenes with one comment saying, "Is this what the snow looks like in hell?"
Residents of the three cities were alarmed at the fearful black snowfall, while local media blamed local coal mines for failing to address pollution from their activities.
The newspaper published many photos taken by local residents of dark black snow instead of the color of snow white as the other areas of the Russian Federation.
For his part, deputy governor of the province of Kemerovo, Andrei Banov, who is also responsible for the environment, said he was meeting with local environmentalists to discuss the issue. He stressed that coal mines are not the only reason, but there are also car exhausts and coal burning stations.
Residents accused the social networking sites of the state's failure to protect the environment in the area where the lifeline is coal.
"It's just a nightmare, there are no cleaning systems, the area is full of waste, dust, dirt and coal, and we and our children breathe the polluted air," one of them said.
"The government bans smoking in public places, but let us inhale all the coal dust to settle in our lungs."