Russia to build disputed motorway through Khimki forest

[Bernkastel]

From the BBC:

The Russian government has announced that a project to build a motorway through the pristine Khimki forest near Moscow will go ahead. President Dmitry Medvedev put the project on hold this summer after protests about the route for the new Moscow-St Petersburg motorway. The plan has divided public opinion and several journalists who reported on the row were attacked and badly hurt.

Cabinet ministers said the Khimki stretch would be ready by 2014.

The planned multi-lane motorway is meant to run alongside an existing two-lane road between Russia's two main cities. Campaigners argue the new motorway could easily be rerouted, without damaging the woodland.The forest has already been partly chopped down.

All factors considered

Speaking in St Petersburg, Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said a government commission had decided the project should be resumed.

The decision was taken, he said, based on "all factors - including the transport one, the economic, social and legal ones, as well as the time limits for the implementation of the project". There would, he said, be compensation for damage to the natural environment amounting to 4bn roubles (£82m, $130m, 98m euros).

Estimating that 100ha (247 acres) of forest would be cut down during the building of the motorway, he said new forest would be planted on a territory of 500ha by way of compensation. Transport Minister Igor Levitin said the Khimki stretch would be completed by the end of 2013. Had an alternative route been chosen, he said, the motorway would not be ready until 2017.

Brutal attacks

Last month, a journalist and an ecologist were attacked in assaults which media linked to the Khimki controversy.

Mikhail Beketov was left crippled by the attack Oleg Kashin, a correspondent with Kommersant newspaper, was beaten with an iron bar by two unknown assailants in Moscow on 6 November. Some of his fingers were smashed in the attack. Two days before that, Khimki opposition activist Konstantin Fetisov had his skull fractured in an assault after being released from a police station, where he had been questioned about a protest.

Nearly two years ago, Khimki journalist Mikhail Beketov was nearly beaten to death as he investigated the motorway project. Left in a wheelchair, Mr Beketov was sued by Khimki mayor Vladimir Strelchenko for defamation and was ordered to pay nominal damages by a court last month. His conviction was subsequently quashed.

I find it hard to form an opinion on this, due to me lacking knowledge on the situation. Based on this article though, I would say that the decision seems to have good reasoning behind it if the estimate given by them on the delays that would be caused if they did not take this decision are correct. At the same time, the way that opposition figures are being dealt with is awful.

[K. A. Pital]

I find it hard to form an opinion on this, due to me lacking knowledge on the situation. Based on this article though, I would say that the decision seems to have good reasoning behind it if the estimate given by them on the delays that would be caused if they did not take this decision are correct. At the same time, the way that opposition figures are being dealt with is awful.

"Is awful"? Really? Killing and maiming people is "awful", not evil? Where the fuck are you from again?

And "the decision having good reasoning" behind it? What the fuck? So there are foreign capitalists involved in the project - who the bloody fuck cares, the destruction of a huge natural reserve can only be stopped if only poor Russians are at stake? Russia should bend over backwards and maim and kill people to silence dissent in the name of someone's profits?

I be damned, I can't believe I'm hearing this.

[Bernkastel]

As I said, I do not have much understanding of the situation, Also you are correct. Evil is more apt a word to describe such actions. Awful just happened to be the word that came to my mind when I wrote the comment.

[Kane Starkiller]

We are talking about a government led by Putin, a guy who eliminated gubernatorial and mayoral elections in Russia while at the same time having such a stranglehold on the media that his support ratings never dropped below 60%.
Cutting through a small 3km by 3km forest is a rounding error compared to all the shit he and his cronies did.

[K. A. Pital]

I honestly have to ask, Kane, whether you are a total idiot or you're just pretending. First of all, mayoral elections were not eliminated, gubernatorial ones were. And next, the forest itself is not a "rounding error", but one of the few natural reserves remaining in Moscow. However, it is not the forest that matters.

What matters is people being killed by oligarchy-hired mob for defending the forest, and being killed en masse - Markelov and Baburina killed, Fetisov, Beketov and Kashin badly mauled and barely alive after the attempts on their life.

And what matters even more is the hideous, complete media blackout in Russia, which went even as far as saying that "United Russia" wanted to save the Khimki forest, after their hacks in Khimki basically cleaned the way to tbe construction through a pile of journalist and ecology activist bodies.

Khimki is a symbol of the brutality of the Russian oligarchy, and thankfully some people don't just let it slide into oblivion and take a stand. Maybe you also think two murders and three attempts are a "rounding error"?

Finally, I'd like to remind everyone that singling out "Putin" is ridiculous. Do you think Medvedev is different? He was on the Gazprom board of directors for ten years, for fuck's sake, and before that he was working as a lawyer for the forest oligarchs in Russia, who have their arms to the shoulders in blood. Medvedev is a vessel of the oligarchy, just like Putin, if not fucking worse.

[Kane Starkiller]

The only one pretending to be an idiot is you although I can't understand why since you didn't actually disagree with anything I have posted.
I stated that the forest, itself 10km2 in surface area, is a rounding error in comparison to all that Putin and his cronies did.
You then attack me for calling the forest a "rounding error" but then proceed to state that it is not forest that matters but killing and the "media blackout" thus basically agreeing with me that there are far worse problems than this singular forest only using different wording.
I also already mentioned "media stranglehold" Putin has so again we are basically stating the same thing when you say "media blackout".
Then you point out that singling out Putin is ridiculous because Medvedev does it to as if Medvedev wasn't handpicked by Putin and as if I implied that Medvedev is innocent when I said "Putin and his cronies".

Speaking further of pretending to be an idiot are you unaware that Moscow, St.Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Chelyabinsk, Ulyanovsk and many other Russian cities no longer hold mayoral elections? And that the number of such cities is growing?

[Bernkastel]

Stas, I would like to take the chance now to apologise for any offense I caused. I made the comments I made without making sure I fully understood the situation and chose the wording of my comments poorly, something quite stupid of me considering the the fact of the many crimes committed by the oligarchs. I do not see the acts of the present regimes as being morally right in any way. From the article, it seemed that it was matter of project time, not profits. It also makes no mention of foreigners, so I thought it was a domestic economical project. It was the choice the progress of the project over the forest the made me say the project had good reasoning behind it.

I was judging the decision, not the attacks on the protesters. At no point did I intend to justify those attacks, which is something that should never be done, and am genuinely sorry for doing so.

[fgalkin]

I don't think this is really about the road, but the luxury dachas that will be built along it. They're bulldozing the Vavilov seed bank to build more, so what do they care about some forest in Khimki?

EDIT: And Medvedev seems to be at least somewhat interested in reform, whereas Putin cares only about filling his pockets. They're both bad, but Medvedev is slightly less better.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

[Edi]

Kane, if you have no intention of doing anything other than trolling and misrepresenting things in order to have a few a rounds on your hobby horse, just shut the fuck up.

Everybody else participating in this thread gets the point quite well but it seems to be whizzing right over your head.

[Kane Starkiller]

What have I misrepresented? Both I and Stas said basically the same things: that this is simply a symptom of a wider corruption and attack on democracy and that Putin and his oligarchs are behind it but for some reason he also saw fit to insult me. What the fuck is there that I'm missing. Don't allude to it say it straight.

[K. A. Pital]

The only one pretending to be an idiot is you although I can't understand why since you didn't actually disagree with anything I have posted. I stated that the forest, itself 10km2 in surface area, is a rounding error in comparison to all that Putin and his cronies did. You then attack me for calling the forest a "rounding error" but then proceed to state that it is not forest that matters but killing and the "media blackout" thus basically agreeing with me that there are far worse problems than this singular forest only using different wording.

What I object to, Kane, is dismissing the forest case out of hand as something ordinary, "business as usual". If we say that the forest thing is just a "rounding error", maybe it's not worth all the protest and the crushed skulls, right? But the thing is, it is actually one of the very few cases where this brutality has come to light. A least somewhat. I did feel your post was in the same vein as Salieri's - "too bad, but business as usual". Perhaps that was a mistake. This story is outrageous, and actually, the article in the OP doesn't make a good enough depiction of the full story there at all.

The other cases are many and numerous, but what singles this out is the fact that it has come to light. The constant murders and assassinations here and there do not cause a social outrage. And let me further explain why. The crime situation in Russia is very bad (as you might already know), but what Putin and the government did is say "stay away from the criminals and they'll stay away from you - this is our new approach". Of course, that's not true as well, but people bought it.

Khimki has all the traits of mob hits and violence, except this time it is quite openly directed at political opponents of the forest cutdown. This is a demonstrative case, I'd say, which at once destroys the illusion of the new Russia that the oligarchy has been trying so hard to build.

The constant trampling of people's rights is something they can live with, and they don't even raise a fucking fuss (which makes me ashamed of Russia all the time). The constant crushing of people's skulls... now, that is something different, although one comes in tandem with the other. And perhaps this is why it is so important. This case has become not just a case against Khimki government. It led to widespread disturbances in the Russian political system. The collapse of Luzhkov circle in Moscow is one of them.

I also already mentioned "media stranglehold" Putin has so again we are basically stating the same thing when you say "media blackout". Then you point out that singling out Putin is ridiculous because Medvedev does it to as if Medvedev wasn't handpicked by Putin and as if I implied that Medvedev is innocent when I said "Putin and his cronies".

Medvedev is not just a crony, he is far more than that and far more dangerous than you might presume. Just like Deripaska and Prokhorov are not just "Russian businessman" (well, unless the words imply the level of danger they pose to society at large). I objected to singling out Putin because Putin is just a cog in the system. Yes, he is a Pinochetian thug, but only "the first among equals", I'd say. All these thugs came out of Yeltsin's "family", a mafiosi power group which has undisputed control of Russia.

Media stranglehold and blackout are two different things. What the media in Russia is becoming is more and more looking like the U.S. model. There is no formal strangehold on the media. But there are blackouts and self-censorship, sometimes far more outrageous than direct control. The media is not directly controlled by Putin, but the mediamagnates of current Russia have the same interests as Putin, Medvedev and Co. They need no direct orders from anyone - they automatically censor stuff. I've witnessed it more than a few times even on the relatively "free" internet-media, which so far have not felt much pressure from the government at all. But they are controlled by oligarchs, e.g. Milner, Usmanov (Digital Sky Technologies), who have their own guidelines.

It is remarkable how the oligarchy functions as a coherent whole without direct control of every and each member. I am always amazed how this system of self-censorship, newspeak and lies arose from the media syndicates.

Speaking further of pretending to be an idiot are you unaware that Moscow, St.Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Chelyabinsk, Ulyanovsk and many other Russian cities no longer hold mayoral elections? And that the number of such cities is growing?

Once again, Putin did not stop the elections directly (like he did with governors). The problem was the cities' parliaments, which were completely and utterly controlled by "United Russia", and which chose to abolish elections in favor of parliamentary picking of mayors (they had a right to do so, IIRC). Which only further displays just how many politicians are actively supporting the current autocracy in Russia. And what is "United Russia"? Being simple, just a gathering of unsavory, but extremely rich people who have no qualms about anything. This stretches far from the top to the bottom. Some members of the local government are just a small version of Medvedev or Putin, name it how you like. I could give more than a few examples. The Khimki one is among them, too.

Oh, and finally, what is special about Khimki? The fact that despite the protests becoming widespread and actually getting a huge media spillover (finally!), Medvedev just says "FUCK YOU" to the people. And why? The official reason is that there are foreign capitalists who have vested interests in the Khimki project. And indeed, at a time when the construction of the Gazprom tower in Petersburg has been (thankfully!) moved to the outskirts under popular pressure, Medvedev shows that the White Mister from a foreign country actually means more than Russians, be they dead, alive, protesting or just living in Khimki and going to the forest for the weekend. This is insulting, this is hideous and absolutely outrageous. This humiliation once again reminds everyone that Russia is a pathetic joke when it comes to actually taking a stand.

[K. A. Pital]

As I feel this article is not doing justice in shedding the light on the situation with the forest, I feel it is my duty to explain why this case is more important that it seems.

First of all, the civil protest in Khimki has a very long history - it started back in early 2007, before the crisis, and it is one of the longest-running struggles between the government and the people. Unlike other short-term unrests, this one is continuing and even gaining strength despite the unprecended brutality against the protestors.

Second, the above-mentioned brutality. Already in 2007 there were door-burnings in houses of the actvists. Anti-fascists and communists, who started supporting the meetings were routinely arrested in 2008 already. Civil activists from one of the non-parliamentary democratic opposition parties (Yabloko) were also routinely arrested as soon as they started appearing on the gatherings. In late 2008 Beketov, editor-in-chief of a newspaper devoted to protesting the forest cutdown, had his skull crushed and ended up in emergency ward, had his foot and three fingers cut off and ended up permanently disabled. In early 2009 his lawyer Margelov, who defended him in a libel suit by the Khimki mayor (the mayor actually had the gall to suit Beketov for libellous materials as the latter was in the hospital after an attack by the mob!), had to bite the bullet - along with Anastasia Baburova, a female journalist who published articles protesting the Khimki forest cutdown. Summer of 2009 - the president of the Khimki anti-corruption organization, A. Pchelintsev, which was involved in civil protests against the cutdown, was beaten and the thugs shot into his open mouth with a traumatic pistol, injuring him heavily. According to the guy, they said "You're opening your mouth too much". In November 2009 a 70-year old pensioneer, ecology activist, had two attempts on his life - first he had a guy trying to knife him, later a bomb thrown into his bedroom, however, the bomb-throwers failed to hit their target. In summer 2010, the struggle escalates. A hired mob (like, a real gang, dressed in white), quite possibly also neo-nazis, attacked the ecology activists who camped in the forest. When the police arrived, they ignored the attackers and attacked the activists. One journalist had her neck injured by the police during the arrest. The protestors (anti-fascists, left-wingers and anarchists, mostly, who spoke in favor of decisive action) actually found some guts and stroke back on the 28th of July, capturing and burning the Khimki administration.

Late 2010 - ecology activist Fetisov had his skull broken. Later Kashin, a journalist of a well-known newspaper, unlike most of the prior victims, was assaulted by mobsters and injured so heavily that the police ruled this was without any doubt an attempt on his life. He had his jawbone and fingers crushed, and by sheer luck his skull did not fracture under hits with a metal rod. He entered comatose state for a while, IIRC.

Third, the utter and complete disregard of the public opinion. 65% of Russians and 67% of Moscow citizens are against the construction according to all polls. That does not stop the Khimki administration, neither the upper echelons of the government.

Fourth, the media blackout which lasted until mid-2010. Only TVC broadcast a movie about the Khimki forest defenders earlier (and, as if to further mock the Khimki protestors, the city itself had TVC translation stopped for a few hours that the movie lasted ). The case gained enough attention only after the beating of Kashin, and even then, the reasons were never adequately explained in major media outlets until maybe two weeks after his beating, i.e. after the media attention span of the common viewer dies down. Perhaps if they didn't go after him, it would slide into oblivion. The handling of this on TV was obviously complete silence (except, of course, the "strange" violence by the mob on July 28), but the internet was even worse. The tactics of "two-week wait", slanderous articles implicating the forest defenders in all sorts of crimes. This soft blackout by the oligarchy was quite successful - the Khimki forest controversy only came to light in Autumn 2010, and by that time "United Russia" shifted it's position 180 degrees and sent a letter to Medvedev to initiate a review of the project (despite the fact that in 2007, 2008 and 2009 "United Russia" consequently rejected and ignored all letters from the Khimki organizations who tried to stop the cutdown). In essence, a complete PR victory for the oligarchs built on lies and silence.

Fifth, the other elements of the situation that give more background as to why the case is so important. As some of you might know, Medvedev's presidency was marked by a new drive for reforms. Massive reforms, in the Forest Code, Labour Code, laws protecting memorials and so on and so forth. To give some background on who Medvedev is in this story - he is tightly connected to the "forest oligarchs". In 1997-1998 Medvedev led the law department of "Ilim Pulp Enterprise", a forest industry syndicate which gained notoriety for the way it's oligarch owners got control of most Russian forest processing factories - by killing undesireables on their way and deliberately bankrupting companies. Medvedev maintained close ties with the forest oligarchs. Zingarevich, one of the three forest oligarchs controlling "Ilim Pulp", recently bought Medvedev's photo at a charity auction for 50 million roubles as a "sign of respect".

The forest fires of 2010 were a convenient pretext for Medvedev to initiate a round of reforms of the Forest Code of the Russian Federation - and lo and behold, article 86 which forbade the change of status of nature reserves and their transfer to other categories vanished from the new redaction. Moreover, the Forest Code changes relieved the federal government from any duties and allowed the local governments to decide the fate of any forest zones - from cutdown to sale and rent. And suspiciously enough, this comes right in the middle of the plans of Moscow and nearby cities' administrations to cut down even MORE forests. One hundred hectares in Khimki is just the beginning. If all plans of the local governments will be successful - and now with the "reformist" Medvedev in charge, the Forest Code is no longer any obstacle at all - there could be a whole thousand hectares of forest cut down under Moscow, or even more.

Finally, the complete and utter servitude of Medvedev to the foreign "partners". Medvedev started a review of the project because popular pressure threatened to damage the political system, but backed down because of "Russia's obligations before the foreign partners". Who are they? CAC 40 giant Vinci and their subsidiary, Eurovia, are the leading foreign contractors on the project. As it is, the foreign capitalists are completely unscurpulous and despite knowing what happens with people in Khimki, they don't give two shits and even threaten to fine Russia for failing obligations. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, World Bank and European Investment Bank financed the project. I'm not sure what the status is now. Why is Medvedev and the Russian oligarchy a bunch of asslickers? Quite simple - they lose around 3 billion roubles if they fail to comply with their obligations. What is a human life when there's 3 fucking billion at stake, right?

Not to mention that the price of land in the so-called "Golden Trapezoid" (a place where oligarchs build luxury property in Moscow) will only rise after the forest is cut down, as now the "Golden Trapezoid" will be surrounded by four highways and have easy access to all magistral ways to major destinations. Luzhkov's wife made around three hundred million dollars of profit there.

And the widespread political disturbance, which is connected to both the Forest Code and memorial law reforms, the collapse of Luzhkov's political circle in Moscow and his replacement with Sobyanin. It is all connected to the Khimki forest issue, and this issue has come to the forefront of political struggle in Moscow. Which is quite important, if you ask me.

[Edi]

What have I misrepresented? Both I and Stas said basically the same things: that this is simply a symptom of a wider corruption and attack on democracy and that Putin and his oligarchs are behind it but for some reason he also saw fit to insult me. What the fuck is there that I'm missing. Don't allude to it say it straight.

Very well:

You dismissed this case out of hand and conflated it with other incidents, as if other incidents have any bearing on the actual merits of this case (which they don't). That's entirely a red herring. It's also typical of you to engage in similar conduct and has been for a long time.

Given how Stas has provided a detailed explanation of what's going on with the Khimki case, I will not elaborate on that any further.

[K. A. Pital]

Outside of Russia this might look like a minor issue (and be assured the current government is doing everything to present it that way; they went as far as Medvedev personally going to Paris to "reassure" the French investors that the project will be a-ohkay), but inside it is getting big, perhaps not big enough to remove top level politicians (although the Moscow mayor is pretty top-level if you ask me). Still, big enough to cause a stir in the system. When Luzhkov was removed people joked that the government cut off its hand which threatened necrosis for the whole body - "Luzhkov became too corrupt and threatened to become a rallying point against Medveput". At the same time, the government started a review of the Khimki project and alternative options (which Luzhkov was vehemently opposed to).

The removal of Luzhkov and the Khimki issues went parallel to each other - as soon as the Khimki protest started picking up steam, left-wing and other opposition organizations in Moscow started conducting "Day of Wrath" protests aimed at removing Luzhkov, every month at the same day. I bet you never heard of them, right? But these protests had several core issues, I'd even say mainly the Khimki thing. And it is remarkable that they actually led to the power shuffle in Moscow - a rare case of popular pressure having any effect. Not much, it seems, because Sobyanin is reverting to Luzhkov's ways, minus the egregrious destruction of cultural heritage, but still...

And the impact of the late-year review of the project was immense, actually. Like I said, the Gazprom plan of building a huge tower in Petersburg (UNESCO said Petersburg will be stricken from heritage lists if the project went through) fell apart like a house of cards. Probably not least because the government was afraid of a Khimki-like scenario. Petersburg governor saw what happened to Luzhkov, and although she's a disgusting corrupt bitch, she knows fear.

It is quite sad the project in Khimki moved on though, and this means the Khimki people must brace in for another round of protests.

[Bernkastel]

Thank you Stas. You posts were very informative. The resistance of the protesters is certainly admirable, especially given that that the action conducted against them are hardly rare and their chances of achieving anything are minute.

You sum up my post as "too bad, but business as usual". I do not feel that this reflects how I feel about this, especially considering the information you have supplied. I do honestly wish than none of this suffering was occurring and that things in Russia were much better than they are. The present way things are being done is morally repugnant and utterly vile. Yet we are talking about Russia's government and it's powerful oligarchs. These people have done much worse than this already. It is hard not to feel extremely apathetic about things in Russia, given the scum that form its ruling class, though I do wish the protesters success in their efforts.