A plan by the Russian company Lukoil to mine diamonds in open pits, rather than underground mines, represents an enormous ecological disaster, environmental groups lobbying against the proposal say.

According to the Kyiv Post, Lukiol recently said it planned to use open-pit mining to recover diamonds from the Verkhotina field, located in a protected nature reserve. This represents an about-face from the company's 2005 promise that it would not use open mines.

Local residents say that the company's plans for an open-pit diamond mine violates their rights to a clean environment and contradicts Lukoil's attempts to present itself as an environmentally friendly company.

Residents have published an appeal to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev arguing that an open pit would "destroy the local ecosystem" and have teamed up with local and international green groups, vowing to fight the open-pit diamond mine plan "to the end."