These photos will never make it on a tourist brochure. But the truth is that Kyiv has its grimy side, apart from its splendid charms as one of Europe’s most beautiful cities. Residents produce about 1 million tons of trash each year, according to Kyivenergo, but the city’s lone incinerating plant, Energiya, burns only a quarter of it. The plant is located in Kharkivskiy district near Vyrlytsya Lake, a place for rest and recreation, where fishermen try their luck about five kilometers away. Of course, even the most casual observer knows that municipal authorities do a poor job of cleaning and collecting rubbish off the streets. Many businesses and residents also don’t bother to properly discard waste. To compound the stinky and unsightly problem, Kyiv has no effective recycling programs running. That means the outskirts of Kyiv are used as a dumping ground by one and all. (Photos by Yaroslav Debelyi)
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