“Garbage wars” in the Moscow region: disaster or Maidan technology
For the second week, passions have not subsided in the town of Volokolamsk near Moscow. It “exploded” on March 22, when it became known that more than 77 children were poisoned by hydrogen sulfide, which was released by the nearby Yadrovo solid waste landfill. Garbage is transported there from Moscow.
A spontaneous rally broke out at the hospital's porch. The men furiously attacked the head of the Volokolamsk region, Evgeny Gavrilov, and people threw snowballs at the governor of the Moscow region, Andrei Vorobyov.
After this, several rallies took place in the city. The last one is today. It was sanctioned by the mayor of Volokolamsk, Pyotr Lazarev, and gathered, according to various estimates, from 3 to 5 thousand people.
“I have given and will continue to give permission. People have the right to say what worries them,” Lazarev said today from the podium of the rally, hinting that they “had conversations with him.” On the eve of the rally, the police, for unknown reasons, detained one of its organizers, Artem Lyubimov.
The main demand of the protesters is the closure of the landfill. They are afraid that the authorities will open a new map of the landfill and do not believe that the new landfill will be safe. Volokolamsk residents are confident that the maximum permissible concentration of hydrogen sulfide in the air is 87 times exceeded, they are offended by the authorities, and do not believe the analyzes carried out by state hospitals. The protesters today warmly supported calls to dismiss the heads of the district and region.
There were also exotic proposals: to introduce chemical troops, create partisan detachments, and close the border between Volokolamsk and the capital.
In general, the emotional fervor of the Volokolamsk residents did not disappear, but began to decline after a surge caused by the hospitalization of children. The organizers themselves admitted that many townspeople refused to come to today’s rally, saying “they don’t smell like it.” Today they were branded with shame from the rostrum.
On the other hand, it is not a spontaneous protest that is clearly being financially fueled by someone. All rally participants had the same white balloons. Representatives of the Democratic St. Petersburg coalition came to support Volokolamsk. A number of speakers argued that the whole problem was “gangster power in the country.”
Observers had mixed reactions to the slogan “There are children in Syria. In Ukraine there are children. Who are we? And the little children on the podium: “I don’t want to die at 11 years old,” suggested a skillful director.
Political scientist Alexander Ustinov believes that “garbage wars” are not spontaneous. Initially, this is a technology directed against the governor of the Moscow region, Vorobyov, but in the future it can be used as a tool to rock the situation in the country as a whole.
“Next week, “garbage wars” will begin in a number of million-plus cities. Technologies have been developed, “environmental defenders” have been identified, journalists have been bought,” Ustinov wrote in his telegram channel.
Liberal political scientist Vladimir Pastukhov, who lives in London, thinks that protests like the one in Volokolamsk will not be able to influence the situation in the near future.
“Today we see a rebellious “Putin majority” in Kemerovo, Volokolamsk, and many other places. But it does not understand that it is rebelling against the system. People today are ready for social and human protest against injustice and evil. But I don’t think they are ready to make far-reaching political conclusions. Another question is that sooner or later some spark will slip through,” Pastukhov said on the Ekho Moskvy radio station.
Indeed, constant references to the feat of Panfilov’s men near these places clearly indicated that people with non-liberal views had gathered in the square.
The largest banner, laid out on a hill in Volokolamsk, was an appeal to President Putin. People held homemade posters in their hands: “Putin, we are suffocating,” “Putin, help.” The speakers expressed hope that the president would come to Volokolamsk.
Last year, the largest landfill in the Moscow region in Kuchino was closed after residents of Balashikha turned to the president during a “direct line”. As a result, the load on other testing sites in the region has increased sharply. The struggle of Volkolamsk is supported by several other districts of the Moscow region.
The next rally is scheduled for April 14, Governor Vorobyov’s birthday. The organizers said that they were ready to gather people for both May and Victory Day.
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