Three friends in Kyrgyzstan's capital hated seeing the pollution caused by plastic waste, so they decided to take matters into their own hands.
It was once ranked among the most polluted places on Earth, but Rudnaya Pristan in Russia's Far East, about 500 kilometers north of Vladivostok, has cleaned up its act since the closure of its lead smelting plant. Local fish populations benefited from cleaner water but are threatened by overfishing.
According to witnesses to last week's Siberian coal-mine disaster, lax safety standards meant it was an accident waiting to happen. Fifty-one people died in Russia's worst mine tragedy since 2010.
Kyrgyzstan is forcing homes and businesses to go back to using coal as a severe drought has reduced output at the country's lone hydroelectric plant, which usually produces 40 percent of the country's electricity. Other energy-saving measures include switching off street lights and neon advertising.
Russians living in Siberia’s Altai mountains make a living by cutting the antlers off Maral deers. The dried antlers are sold for more than $300 per kilogram to China and South Korea where people believe they help boost libido and longevity. But animal rights groups call the practice cruel.
Bolshoi Ussuriysky Island, an outpost on the Amur River in the Far East, was disputed by Russia and China for decades, but it has now been divided almost equally between the neighbors. The Chinese call it Heixiazi Island.
The huge mercury mine at Aidarken in Kyrgyzstan once supplied the entire Soviet Union. It now produces a fraction of its former output, with many of its shafts still filled with floodwaters that took it out of service from 2009 to 2019.
The Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia's Far East is one of the world's wildest places, where researchers keep watch over active volcanoes and hunters come in search of big game. It's also home to a secretive military facility where ballistic missile tests disturb the pristine environment.
In May, a leaking pipeline spilled oil into a river and across a large area of the Komi region in northern Russia. Local officials and the LUKoil energy company said the cleanup work is now finished, but local environmentalists say the impact is greater than the company admits.
The Tisza River, a major tributary of the Danube, flows from Ukraine into Hungary -- and brings with it thousands of tons of garbage each year. Hungary has urged Ukraine to deal with its trash before it becomes an international issue, but there's no easy solution in sight.
Half of Russia's oil is produced in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous District of Siberia, but the lucrative industry has meant nothing but trouble for the region's indigenous people.
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