Not to be outdone, environmentalists in Russia have filed a lawsuit to stop development of oil and gas operations off Sakhalin Island in Russia's Far East.

The environmentalists argue the Sakhalin Project threatens the breeding grounds of rare grey whale colonies and have the Russian Government and the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources in their legal sights.

ExxonMobil and Shell are leading an international consortium that is planning to drill two offshore deposits in October. The international consortium plans to spend over $A25 billion in the area over the next three decades.

Its hard to imagine environmentalist groups carrying much power, and indeed being allowed to operate, in pre-Glasnost USSR.