The video will start in 8 Cancel

News, views and top stories in your inbox. Don't miss our must-read newsletter Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

A stunning blue lake known as the 'Siberian Seychelles' popular with Instagram influencers has been revealed as an ash-polluted wasteland.

The lagoon - near Russia’s third city Novosibirsk - has become popular on social media for providing idyllic beach pictures and videos.

The stunning turquoise waters and dazzling white sands defy the stereotypes of Siberia as a frozen wilderness.

But things are are not all they seem - and authorities issued a warning that it poses a serious danger to health.

This tropical effect in a place where temperatures plunge to minus 40C is created by a nearby brown coal-boring power plant generating electricity, it has been revealed.

(Image: The Siberian TImes)

(Image: The Siberian TImes)

And young models posing in swim wear have been warned they risk their health by venturing in or near the chemical cocktail in this ‘paradise’ also known as the Russian Maldives.

Its name is translated as Lake Ash Dump - and it receives the waste from the nearby power station named TPP-5 and owned by the Siberian Generating Company.

The company is owned by 47-year-old tycoon Andrey Melnichenko - worth £10.75 billion - and famed for his ocean-going Sailing Yacht A and Motor Yacht A.

(Image: The Siberian TImes)

The electric blue waters of the lake are formed by a chemical reaction from the waste of the power plant.

The company warned: “We beg you not to fall into the ash dump in the pursuit of selfies.

“That is the biggest danger.”

Swimming is prohibited and visitors flocking to the site are warned that strolling along the beach here “is like walking at a military training ground - dangerous and undesirable”.

They are told: “This is not a city beach - there are no lifeguards on the shore and there cannot be…

(Image: The Siberian TImes)

“The water in the ash dump is not for drinking, but technical, that is, it contains dissolved salts of calcium and other metal oxides, as well as high pH.

“This water is used only to transport ash.

“Skin contact with such water may cause local allergic reactions due to high mineralisation.”

Authorities deny that the polliuted waters are a danger to life but are keen to keep the flood of visitors away from the lake.

Ecological campaigner Ulyana Artamonova was filmed if as if she was on a tropical beach but she said: “After visiting, my face was covered with a small rash.”

She suffered from “a dry throat and nose”.

(Image: The Siberian TImes)

Visitors say that the soles of their sandals flake off after walking along the water line, reported The Siberian Times.



Photographer Mikhail Reshetnikov said: “When you drive up to this lake, there is a very strong smell of laundry detergent, of alkali…

“Naturally, there is no desire to touch such water.

“You just feel that this is not a safe place.”

Another local said: “It’s not Chernobyl, for sure, but still unsafe.”