Almost all the fish have died: mass die-offs have already affected 16 regions of Russia

I receive a great many messages from readers about mass fish die-offs in Russia. People send me photographs and videos and ask me to speak about the problem. The situation is, in fact, extremely serious: according to the data I have collected, fish deaths have been recorded in at least 16 regions of the country. The most critical situation is in Siberia, particularly in the Tura, Tobol, and Irtysh river basins.

Moreover, the authorities officially acknowledged the problem only recently. Elena Panova, a representative of the State Duma Committee on Ecology, reported the near-total loss of fish populations in the Tura and Tobol rivers and partial losses in the Irtysh, Tavda, and Iset rivers.

On Telegram, which officials in our country are actively blocking while continuing to use it themselves, she stated the following:

“Representatives of the fisheries sector and the Russian Academy of Sciences have finally dispelled all remaining hopes. Fish populations in the Tura and Tobol have been completely lost, with partial losses in the Irtysh, Tavda, and Iset. The same has happened to the food base, 95% of which is gone. So-called ‘trash’ species will return in 2–4 years. Sterlet will return in 6 years, and nelma in 8–10 years.

The Russian Federal Agency for Fishery has a comprehensive program for restoring valuable fish species, but at present there are no plans for the Tura within that program. Without assistance, it will take the affected rivers a very long time to naturally replenish their fish populations.”

As for Elena’s claim that “there is a comprehensive restoration program,” she was, of course, getting ahead of herself. We know very well how such “programs” are implemented in our country. Let me remind you that the federal government recently acknowledged that more than 100 billion rubles had been spent on restoring the Volga, yet the program completely failed and no one accomplished the assigned objectives. Now the money has also somehow “disappeared,” forcing the Prosecutor General’s Office to run around filing lawsuits against officials, while there is simply no new funding available amid the country’s catastrophic budget deficit.

But Elena was absolutely correct when she spoke openly about the true scale of the catastrophe: fish populations have been completely lost in two rivers and partially lost in one of Siberia’s major waterways, the Irtysh. And the consequences will continue cascading through the ecosystem, finishing off many of the remaining survivors, because the food base has been reduced by 95%.

Oxygen depletion is being cited as the cause — in other words, a mass fish kill caused by critically low dissolved oxygen. People write to me saying they doubt this explanation and ask me to comment. The data do support it: in June alone, the region received approximately 257% of its normal monthly precipitation, followed by severe flooding. When floodwaters inundate floodplains and begin washing large quantities of organic matter into rivers — plants, soil, humus, and other organic material — this can indeed cause severe oxygen depletion and mass fish mortality.

Moreover, these figures are confirmed by several independent sources. According to Roshydromet, 157–160 mm of precipitation fell in June, which is approximately 257% of the normal amount there, where the climatic norm is 61–62 mm. Additional data come from the Tyumen Center for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring, which emphasized that precipitation of this magnitude had not been recorded since 1928.

But!

Earlier, during the first ten days of June, conditions were even more extreme: precipitation reached 429% of normal. And in May, according to the data I obtained, the region also received 152% of its monthly precipitation norm. So once again, we are seeing a cascading effect from successive periods of prolonged rainfall that increased pressure on aquifers and the entire watershed. I also found data showing that excessive soil moisture was officially reported on June 20. This means that by that point, the watershed was no longer capable of absorbing additional precipitation, and the result was a further flood response.

There are separate figures for the Tura River: its summer water level exceeded even the peak of the spring flood. The spring maximum was 684 cm, while summer rains pushed the water level to approximately 896 cm. By the end of July, Tyumen had to declare a regional state of emergency because of the flooding. The Emergency Ministry reported dozens of flooded residential buildings and hundreds of affected properties.

I consider these data sufficient to confirm the problem of a massive fish kill.

But at the same time, officials, as always, carefully avoid mentioning other problems.

The resilience of river ecosystems depends on how healthy those ecosystems are to begin with. It depends on how capable these waterways are of resisting external catastrophes. Natural ecosystems can withstand floods and abnormal heat only when they are healthy. But when an ecosystem is already barely hanging on — any additional external disaster can become fatal and trigger a rapid collapse.

Imagine that you live next to an ammonia plant and have been poisoning your body for years. You are practically coughing up pieces of your lungs on your way to work, struggling to breathe, suffering from chronic inflammation, and doctors could discover cancer at any moment. Now imagine that one day the air pollution becomes so toxic that a thick chemical fog spreads across the city and remains there for several months.

You would simply die! You would suffocate while coughing up blood. Your body is already incapable of defending itself, and when a sudden catastrophe strikes, it will finally give out.

This is a simple illustration of what has now happened to the fish in these rivers. And how convenient it is to quietly ignore all of this, isn’t it, point to the heavy rains, and declare: “Nature is to blame for everything”?

Now let me explain using the Tura River as an example.

As far back as 2014, the official environmental report of the Sverdlovsk Region stated that the river was suffering from catastrophic pollution. Downstream of Nizhnyaya Tura, the water was classified as “polluted”; downstream of Turinsk, in 2014, it was already classified as “extremely polluted”; and at the border with the Tyumen Region, it was classified as “highly polluted.” Critical indicators included manganese, ammonium nitrogen, nitrite nitrogen, iron, copper, and oxygen deficiency. In other words, critical pollution of the river had already been documented at least a decade before this catastrophe.

In 2021, the federal Roshydromet agency reported that wastewater from major enterprises was among the primary sources of pollution in the Tura River. In the Tyumen area specifically, Tyumen Vodokanal, CHP Plant No. 1, and others were identified. But the most important point here is the scale: in 2021 alone, sources in Tyumen discharged 72 million cubic meters of wastewater.

Now pay attention:

• 73% of monitoring stations recorded Class 4 water quality: “polluted” or “highly polluted”;

  
  

• the remaining 27% were classified as “very polluted”;

  
  

• concentrations exceeding maximum permissible levels for manganese, copper, iron, and organic pollution were recorded in 86–99% of the samples collected;

  
  
• Roshydromet reported that pollution by these substances was characteristic “along the entire length of the river.”

This is not an isolated discharge, my friends! This is not a single pipe or one polluted stretch inside a city. This is chronic pollution across practically the entire Tura River.

And what do you think — did anything improve?

Of course not.

By 2023, Roshydromet’s federal annual report stated that pollution had increased. This time, water at 90.9% of monitoring stations was classified as Class 4 — “polluted” or “highly polluted.” The remaining 9.1% was classified as “very polluted.”

IN OTHER WORDS, THERE IS PRACTICALLY NO CLEAN WATER LEFT AT ALL.

For individual pollutants, concentrations exceeding maximum permissible levels were recorded in 61–100% of samples. The river is suffering from extreme levels of contamination by dangerous toxic substances.

And in that same year, 2023, oxygen deficiency was also recorded. They knew about it! It was confirmed in official reports. Government agencies were working, conducting studies, documenting the situation — yet no meaningful changes were made and no measures were taken to prevent a catastrophe.

And that is still not all.

In 2025, very recently, the pollution became the subject of a prosecutorial investigation. I found a ruling by the Central District Court of Tyumen dated July 9, 2025, based on materials from an investigation conducted by the Tyumen Interdistrict Environmental Prosecutor’s Office.

Prosecutors investigated the situation and went to court after detecting abnormal contamination of the river with petroleum products, ammonium, nitrites, phosphates, and total iron. Lead, zinc, mercury, nickel, cobalt, copper, cadmium, manganese, and other substances were also detected in bottom sediments. Interestingly, based on the studies submitted to the court, the problem was formulated this way: “The natural self-purification process of the water body is unable to cope.”

Once again! Pay attention to the fact that this was in 2025. In other words, a year before the mass fish kill, the river was ALREADY UNABLE TO COPE with the scale of pollution. It had effectively been turned into a sewer, while the ecosystem was barely clinging to life.

And then the rains came — and nature simply could not withstand it anymore. Everything died. The same thing will happen across many of the country’s natural ecosystems! Right now, our officials are brazenly pushing their so-called “development” even into protected areas and biological refuges, completely failing to understand the scale of the catastrophes that lie ahead.

I have described the situation surrounding the Tura River, but similar fish deaths are occurring right now in at least 16 regions of the country. Below is a brief summary of the data we already have:

1. Tyumen Region — the Tura, Tobol, Irtysh, Tavda, and associated water bodies. This is the largest episode: VNIRO describes a “total fish kill” in the Tura and Tobol; more than 4 metric tons of dead fish were collected in Tyumen, while authorities in the Yarkovsky District planned to remove at least 10 metric tons.

   
   

2. Sverdlovsk Region — the upper reaches of the Tura, Tavda, Pyshma, Nitsa, and the areas around Turinsk and Zhukovsky. A sharp decline in oxygen levels was recorded here; separately, pollution from poultry-farm waste and fish deaths at the Isinskoye Reservoir were investigated.

   
   

3. Kurgan Region — the Iset River from Shadrinsk to its mouth. VNIRO detected critically low oxygen levels; the region became part of the broader Ural fish-kill zone.

   
   

4. Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug — Yugra — the Irtysh River. By August 26, the oxygen-depleted water mass had reached this area; the mass fish die-off was officially confirmed by the Russian Federal Agency for Fishery.

   
   

5. Moscow Region — the Gnilusha River, Domodedovo, extending toward Ramenskoye. Following a warehouse fire, authorities confirmed that chemicals had entered the river and caused a mass fish die-off; eyewitnesses also reported dead crayfish and mollusks.

   
   

6. Samara Region — the Ovsyanka River, Pestravsky District. In addition to oxygen deficiency, sulfate concentrations were measured at 4.46 times the maximum permissible concentration, chlorides at 4.31 times the limit, and phenols at 2.3 times the limit.

   
   

7. Novosibirsk Region — Novosibirsk Reservoir. On August 15–16, hundreds of bream were found dead. VNIRO linked the episode to ligulosis — infection by tapeworms of the genus Ligula — although no samples were collected specifically from this particular die-off.

   
   

8. Yaroslavl Region — the Volgotnya River and Volkovsky Stream. Hundreds of dead fish were reported in the Volgotnya; the authorities’ preliminary explanation was a critical drop in oxygen levels during hot weather and stagnant-water conditions.

   
   

9. Leningrad Region — Anninskoye Lake, Lomonosovsky District. A mass die-off involving several species was officially confirmed: roach, perch, crucian carp, common carp, and pike. At the time of publication, the cause had not yet been definitively established.

   
   

10. Nizhny Novgorod Region — Lake Kustorka and other water bodies in the Pavlovo and Kstovo areas. Fisheries inspectors confirmed a mass fish die-off at Lake Kustorka; the shoreline was covered with dead crucian carp and perch.

    
    

11. Altai Territory — channels of the Ob River in the Kamensky and Shelabolikhinsky districts. The Russian Federal Agency for Fishery confirmed a mass die-off; studies linked it to branchiomycosis, a fungal infection of the gills that was aggravated by hot weather and low water levels.

    
    

12. Krasnoyarsk Territory — Lake Tagarskoye near Minusinsk. The shoreline was covered with dead fish; the local administration officially reported a mass die-off and advised people not to use the dead fish. At that point, the cause remained preliminary.

    
    

13. Omsk Region — Lake Kirpichka in Omsk. Prosecutors launched an investigation following reports of mass deaths involving both fish and birds. Possible impacts from discharges and pollutants were being investigated.

    
    

14. Tambov Region — Lake Molodyozhnoye, the village of Chernyanoye. Following the fish die-off, official water samples were collected; the water had turned whitish and had the characteristic smell of sewage. At that time, the cause was still being determined.

    
    

15. Republic of Tatarstan — a cascade of ponds in Almetyevsk. The scale of the fish die-off was so severe that cleanup operations continued for several days. The regional Ministry of Ecology reported both a critical decline in oxygen levels and a significant excess of organic matter — eutrophication.

    
    
16. Krasnodar Territory — a water body in the Novoznamensky settlement, Krasnodar. On July 9, representatives of the regional Ministry of Natural Resources and municipal services responded to reports of a mass die-off of aquatic organisms; the Russian Federal Agency for Fishery was notified and water sampling was ordered. In August, reports also emerged from other water bodies in the region.

Look at the scale of this. In some cases of fish mortality, there are official findings confirming pollution. In other cases, officials simply fall back on the explanation that “nature is to blame, it was all caused by the rain.” In reality, I could take each of these rivers right now and provide an evidence base documenting chronic pollution!

The problem is that the country’s entire river system is in critical condition: Russia’s waterways are chronically sick. The ecosystems are on the brink. Any additional pressure can trigger catastrophe! And if heavy rains hit other regions tomorrow, we will see a chain reaction of mass die-offs.

And I already mentioned above how nature is supposedly being protected in our country: the Volga River, a federal “restoration” project, more than 100 billion rubles spent by officials — and now prosecutors are having to sue them. Think about the absurdity of that: prosecutors in our country are being forced to take officials to court in an attempt to recover money that has been scattered and siphoned away.

© PAVEL PASHKOV