When most of us picture snow, we imagine a glistening white canvas, but that's not what these locals in three Siberian towns woke up to.
Eerie pictures from the coal mining towns of Prokopyevsk, Kiselyovsk and Leninsk-Kuznetsky have been uploaded to social media, sparking alarm.
While many have expressed their awe at the beauty and uniqueness of the snow, others have placed blame on the coal factories.
According to The Siberian Times, Director General of Prokopyevskaya factory Anatoly Volkov explained to Vesti-KUzbass TV channel that a shield, designed to protect the air from coal powder, stopped working.
One user @stange_sounds wrote on twitter: ‘Is this what snow looks like in hell?’
Another user criticised the country's laws regarding the environment and expressed fears for the children inhaling the air every day.
The Siberian Times also reported that the Deputy Governor of the Kemerovo region, Andrei Panov, suggested Volkov's plant wasn't the only cause, but that car exhausts and other coal-burning plants were also to blame.
Russia is the fifth largest coal producer in the world and has the second largest reserves of 173 billion tons. Coal accounts for 14.4% of the country's energy consumption.
Over two-thirds of coal produced in Russia is used domestically.
Picture:Khodorkovsky Center.
