a view looking down at the smoking and dirty buildings of the azovstal plant

Inside a Ukrainian war zone, another fight rages—for clean air

The port city of Mariupol battles pollution from iron and steel plants decades out of date, but activists are making headway.

An early morning view of the Azovstal steel plant's blast furnace in Mariupol, Ukraine.

The eastern Ukrainian port city of Mariupol is less than 10 miles from the front line of the country’s long-simmering conflict with Russia, and in the years since 2014, its residents have suffered shelling, rocket fire, and the relentless anxiety of life in a war zone. But some are worried about a less tangible threat that may be even more dangerous: pollution from the two ancient, hulking iron and steel plants that drive the city’s economy.

Mariupol is one of the most polluted cities in a nation whose air is among the dirtiest in Europe. Mired in war with its mighty neighbor, beset by corruption and dominated by a small number of super-rich oligarchs who wield outsize

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