New investigation
Timur Frank — The Man I Am Afraid Of
A documentary account of a man, his business milieu and the events after which my fear never went away.
Наталья ЗубковаIndependent journalism
Topics
Land reclamation
Restoring land and addressing long-term costs after extraction ends.
GURSH. Liquidated on PaperResettled to the Other Edge of the Open-Pit Mine.
The Price of Coal. Waste-rock dumps and mining’s deferred billThe Apanas waste-rock dump as a documented example of a bill that arrives years after coal has been extracted and sold.Health
Consequences for industry workers and people living near extraction sites.
Climate
Coal’s contribution to greenhouse-gas emissions and the economic consequences of climate change.
Water
Pollution of rivers and groundwater, remediation and cross-border consequences.
Air
Monitoring, measurements, emissions and the public right to know what people are breathing.
Government, business and the environment
How public authorities and businesses respond to environmental problems and their consequences.
Timur Frank — The Man I Am Afraid OfA documentary account of a man, his business milieu and the events after which my fear never went away.
The Day the Air Was MeasuredWhat air samples taken in Kiselyovsk on 3 December 2020 showed—and why residents still cannot trace how the inspection ended.About us
Who is Natalia Zubkova?
Natalia Zubkova is an independent journalist from Kiselyovsk, a city in the coal-mining region of Kuzbass. She documents how coal extraction changes the environment and everyday life, while keeping her own testimony distinct from what documents and measurements establish.
Her work and life in the coal city are at the centre of Black Snow (2024), a documentary feature directed by Alina Simone. Natalia Zubkova and Alina Simone are credited as the film’s directors of photography. It premiered at CPH:DOX in 2024, received awards at international festivals, and was nominated for Best Documentary at the 2026 News & Documentary Emmy Awards. Natalia also received the Alnoba Foundation’s Alan E. Lewis Moral Courage in Leadership Award.
NATIZDAT continues this work through verifiable articles, research publications and an open library of materials.
We do not ask readers simply to trust us.
The story leads to documents and sources.
The project is produced independently. Information about ways to support it belongs here, in the About us section.
For interview requests or enquiries about supporting the project, write to: kiselevsknews@gmail.com
Concept — Natalia Zubkova.