The AFP reports that on Thursday Russia received yet another conviction for the violation of human rights, this time regarding Russia's critical problem of environmental contamination. How much evidence of the total failure of the Putin regime do Russians need before they will replace it?

The European Court of Human Rights condemned Russia for not taking appropriate measures to protect four women against toxic emissions from a steel plant. According to the judgment, the four Russian nationals all lived within the buffer zone of the Severstal steel plant in Cherepovets, where the concentration of by-products of steel production regularly exceeded recommended limits. Vladmirovna Zolotareva and three other women launched a complaint against Russia for its failure to protect their private lives and homes from severe environmental pollution, as guaranteed in article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights. During the proceedings, the Court referred to a previous case in which it had already established that the plant's operations did not fully comply with Russia's environmental and health standards. In that case, the court had emphasized that authorities had the option of either resettling the plaintiffs outside of the buffer zone, or reducing toxic emissions. In Thursday's judgment, the court concluded that the Russian authorities failed to take appropriate measures to protect the plaintiffs from serious environmental hazards. The women were awarded damages ranging from 1,500 to 8,000 euros, (1,900 to 10,000 dollars) and were allotted another 800 euros for costs and expenses.

Read the EHCR's full decision here.