Day suddenly turned to night around noon in the remote Russian Arctic in a strange phenomenon that “frightened” locals. For three hours residents were plunged into sudden darkness and called media outlets to ask if it was the work of the devil. The weird occurrence was in the remote Eveno-Bytantaisky and Zhigansky districts of Russia’s coldest region – Yakutia.
The two districts are larger than England and Wales combined. The region is so far north that at this time of year it expects virtually 24-hour light – but as one local said: “Day suddenly turned into a dark night”. Officials have not explained why “the sun was switched off” – and some locals believe it was due to “devilry”. Others blamed a massive cloud of choking pollution from ranging wildfires in eastern Russia. READ MORE
