Drone footage of inviting turquoise waters and sandy-looking beaches makes this lake in Siberia look like paradise.

In reality, the lake is a dump for chemical waste.

A recent New York Times report highlights how the picturesque lake, actually a man-made waste site for power plant Heating and Electrical Station Number 5 outside Novosibirsk, has become a hit for Instagram influencers who pose for photos.

Social media users have even nicknamed the site the “Maldives of Novosibirsk,” the Times reported.

It added that the plant’s operator, Siberian Generating Company, acknowledged the site had become a “social media star” but added that the water is not poisonous. “The radiation level is normal,” the Times reported the operator as saying.

But YouTuber and local citizen Artem154nsk who captured the footage in June disagrees with that assessment.

He said: "Literally 20 minutes from my house there is a stunningly beautiful lake, which recently has aroused great interest among the residents of our city.

"But in reality, this is not a miracle of nature, but an ash dump, where [coal plant] CHPP-5 discharges, therefore, it is strictly prohibited to swim in this reservoir.

"The lake has this color due to the dissolved salts of calcium and other metal oxides in the water, as well as high pH.

"The lake attracts lovers of beautiful photos, photo shoots, but in this place you do not feel relaxed alone with nature, as it is unsafe."

Literally 20 minutes from my house there is a stunningly beautiful lake, which recently has aroused great interest among the residents of our city.
But in reality, this is not a miracle of nature, but an ash dump, where CHPP-5 discharges therefore it is strictly prohibited to swim in this reservoir.
The lake has this color due to the dissolved salts of calcium and other metal oxides in the water, as well as high pH.
The lake attracts lovers of beautiful photos, photo shoots, but in this place you do not feel relaxed alone with nature, as it is unsafe.