Vast swarms of flies plague Russian villages after farmers 'illegally used chicken droppings as fertiliser'

Swarms of flies have invaded villages in Russia’s Ural region, sparking health fears and leaving locals horrified.

Shocking footage on local television showed one village being invaded by clouds of thousands of flies, while scores of dead insects were seen being swept into buckets from the floor of one resident’s home.

One local described the scene as like “something from a horror film” while detailing how “every day or two” he has been filling up “a bucket, half a bucket” of dead flies.

Local reports claim the invasion began after a farmer illegally used chicken droppings from a local poultry farm as fertiliser, which attracted flies to lay millions of eggs.

Some reports said dead chickens and chicken entrails had also been used. Investigators confirmed they had opened a criminal investigation into the unsanctioned use of “environmentally hazardous waste”.

A woman in Lazorevy told state television: “You can’t hang out your washing to dry or open your windows, let alone go outside.

Another woman, in quotes reported in The Guardian, said: “It’s unbearable, the flies are everywhere.

“I’m afraid for my children. We need to poison the flies constantly [with chemicals], but then we all have to breath that air. It’s frightening.”

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Maxim Maksimov, who runs the poultry farm, admitted supplying chicken droppings to the farm for use as fertiliser - but pointed out it was normal practice.

Speaking to the Ura.ru news website, Mr Maskimov said: “This is much better than chemicals.

“We were just unlucky with the weather. A wet spring and then a sudden increase in temperatures created favourable conditions for flies to breed.”

Andrei Savchenko, who works on the farm denied he was to blame.

He said: “Flies have existed for millions of years, and they are everywhere.

“This is just a question of the amount of them. But no one can tell me what the acceptable or cut-off number of flies is.”