You're reading: New York Times: 4,000 children flee pollution disaster on Ukraine-Crimea border

KIEV, Ukraine — A strange mist blew into one town, residents said. There and elsewhere, people noticed that metal items like children’s swings were rusting, and they felt a shortness of breath. Fields turned black.

Ecologists and doctors say the culprit was a significant release of industrial pollution, but the ecological disaster, which began in August, has an added complication.

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