As many as 83.8 million people in Russia are living under levels of chemical pollution that pose a risk to their health.
That is according to Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service, Ukrinform reports.
Russia’s Federal Service for the Oversight of Consumer Protection and Welfare (Rospotrebnadzor) has published its 2025 report on the sanitary and epidemiological well-being of the country’s population.
“The document goes far beyond routine bureaucratic reporting. The figures it contains read like a diagnosis of a country that is systematically poisoning its own population and is not even trying to fix it,” the Foreign Intelligence Service said.
According to the report, the overall chemical burden on Russians’ health increased by 5.9% over the past year. A total of 83.8 million people – 57% of Russia’s population – are now exposed to it. In other words, most of the country lives in conditions that the state itself recognizes as hazardous.
The regions with the highest levels of air pollution were Khakassia (4.5% of samples exceeded the maximum permissible concentrations), Altai Krai (3.43%), and Krasnoyarsk Krai (2.24%). Formally, the country’s overall atmospheric pollution level declined, with the share of samples exceeding legal limits dropping to 0.69% in urban areas and 0.32% in rural areas. However, conditions are worsening where people actually live: air pollution near highways in residential areas continues to rise and has already reached 1.06% of samples exceeding permissible levels.
The share of soil samples failing to meet standards reached 8.4% for bacteriological indicators, 3.51% for chemical indicators, and 0.64% for parasitological indicators. The highest levels of chemical soil contamination were recorded in North Ossetia-Alania (55.7%) and Khabarovsk Krai (19.5%). In terms of microbiological contamination, the worst situation was found in the Jewish Autonomous Region (47.4%) and Khabarovsk Krai (35.2%).
Chemical pollution of water bodies used as drinking water sources is also increasing. The share of substandard samples reached 28.05% for sanitary and chemical indicators and 15.27% for microbiological indicators. The worst situation was recorded in Kurgan Region, where 100% of samples failed to meet chemical standards, and in Novgorod Region, where the figure stood at 90.22%.
Marine pollution has also worsened. The share of seawater samples exceeding chemical standards rose to 12.97%. In St. Petersburg and Leningrad Region, 97-100% of the seawater samples tested failed to meet sanitary standards in terms of both chemical and microbiological composition.
Oil product contamination of seawater increased 10.3-fold, with the share of non-compliant samples rising from 1.22% to 12.59%. Fuel oil has polluted 150 beaches – 141 in Anapa and nine in the Temryuk district. Toxic petroleum products have penetrated deep into the coastline, with contamination documented at three different depths and three different distances from the waterline. At the same time, coastal air quality has deteriorated, posing a threat to both groundwater and surface sources of drinking water. The document also confirms toxic contamination of local fish and aquaculture facilities in coastal areas.
The share of counterfeit products on the market has increased to 5.9%, up 63.9% compared with 2022. Meat products are the most frequently counterfeited (9.2%), followed by poultry and eggs (8.3%), and dairy products (6.6%). Microbiological violations were detected in 4.03% of food samples.
Another alarming indicator is antibiotic resistance. Of all bacterial strains isolated from food products, 56.6% were found to be resistant to antibiotics. Poultry and eggs are the main source of these “superbugs,” accounting for 45.9% of all resistant strains. Among the most dangerous microorganisms, Salmonella bacteria lead the list, with 68.7% of strains showing resistance to gentamicin and amikacin.
