This is the only way people in Moscow can get snow cleared from their streets

In case you haven't been keeping up to date with the weather in Russia, let us tell you that it has been snowing. A lot.

More than half of the monthly snowfall that Moscow receives fell at the start of the month, leaving around 15 inches on the ground.

It is the heaviest recorded snowfall to happen in the Russian capital since 1957 and it has resulted in major problems for the residents of the city.

Around 2,000 trees are reported to have fallen, while some residents have been waiting for weeks for the snow to be removed from their street.

BBCreport that citizens have been left frustrated by local authorities slow attempts to clear the snow, but some people have found a unique solution to the problem.

Journalist Mikhail Kozyrev suggested on Facebook that people write the name "Navalny" on the snow, which may prompt workers to shift the white powder more quickly.

Navalny refers to Alexi Navalny, the leader of the opposition party in Russia and an outspoken critic of Vladimir Putin.

Sure enough, when members of a local community group in the Nagorny district wrote the name in the snow, it was soon cleared away or obscured from view.

Images were shared by local resident Tatyana Grigoryeva on Facebook with the snow bearing the name of the politician.

A video, which has been viewed on 60,000 times, was also uploaded, showing workers with shovels trying to remove the name from the snow.

Others locals to the area posted in a Facebook activists group that their use of the Navalny method was successful, and snow began to be removed just four hours after the name was written.

As you may have guessed, Navalny is a controversial and unpopular figure within the Russian government and among pro-Putin supporters.

The 41-year-old is a member of the Progress Party and has previously accused high government ranking officials of corruption. His name is also censored within Russian media.

He has also been the subject of a number of attacks from Putin supporters and almost lost his sight after one incident in 2017, but that hasn't dented his sense of humour.

News of the snow protests reached him earlier this month and he shared images of them on his blog claiming that he "laughed" and found them "really funny".

HT BBC News

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