Authorities in the coal-mining Siberian region of Kemerovo have reportedly covered up snow with white paint to hide evidence of soot and ash pollution.
Footage published by local media Monday showed a woman's hands becoming coated in white paint after she reached out to brush a snow bank outside a municipal recreation center in the town of Mysky.
“You can see the stains... It even sticks,” she said while demonstrating the viscous substance on her fingertips.
The head of the town said he had reprimanded those responsible and ordered the removal of the paint from the snow hill.
“I apologize to the townspeople whose New Year’s mood was spoiled by this,” said Dmitry Ivanov in a statement Wednesday.
“Apparently, no white snow could be found around the city surrounded by coal mines so they had to resort to modern technology,” the local nk-tv.com news website said.
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