Hey, buddy, you got a license to report on all this pollution?

The environmental prosecutor’s office in Krasnoyarsk recently questioned Igor Shpekht, the creator of an independent network that monitors the city’s air quality, demanding that he explain how his project works. Shpekht, who has placed sensors across five districts of Krasnoyarsk to measure the levels of air pollution, says the local prosecutor was acting on orders from the regional office. Shpekht’s project, “Krasnoyarsk Sky,” publishes videos of smog on Instagram and Telegram.

He says city officials filed a complaint against him because his sensors have recorded pollution levels that conflict with the city’s official data, though Krasnoyarsk’s hydrometeorology and environmental monitoring department denies that it filed any complaint.

• Krasnoyarsk prosecutors say a license is required to monitor air quality, but Shpekht says this only applies to legal entities and entrepreneurs, not individuals.
• Krasnoyarsk is one of the worst polluted cities in Russia, thanks in large part to its aluminum and metallurgical plants, as well as significant coal mining.

Photo on front page: Krasnoyarsk Sky / Instagram