Indigenous peoples of Russia's Far North march against Nornickel, 12 August 2020

Representatives of the indigenous peoples of Russia's far northern Taimyr Peninsula have marched against operations of the world's largest palladium and nickel producer -- Nornickel.

Dozens of members of the Nenets, Nganasans, Dolgans, and Enets communities marched in traditional dress across the industrial Arctic city of Norilsk on August 12, saying their rights are being violated by local officials and large businesses -- including Nornickel -- operating in the region.

The protest lasted for more than an hour with many residents of the city joining the protesters.

"August 9 was marked in the world as the Day of Indigenous Peoples, but we have nothing to celebrate. We are deprived of our rights to fish and hunt on the territories that we inherited from our ancestors and that are currently being exploited by companies that have enormous sums of money to ‘win’ tenders on our lands," one of the leaders of the group, Valeria Bolgova, told RFE/RL.