Trash talk: how beautiful, progressive Lviv became overrun with rubbish

The Ukrainian city of Lviv - long noted for its Habsburg-era buildings and vibrant cafes - is in the throes of a trash crisis. Who is really to blame?

An enchanting city in western Ukraine, Lviv has gained a pleasant reputation for its rugged, Habsburg-era beauty and vibrant cafe scene. More recently, however, it has become known for something entirely different: heaping piles of trash.

For months, Lviv has struggled to properly dispose of the several hundred tonnes of waste it produces each day. Municipal officials say local trash collectors face restricted access to nearby landfills, leaving them few other places to turn with the city's rubbish.