Khimki Forest

Khimki Forest is a forest near the Russian city of Moscow covering about 1000 hectares. It is part of the so-called "Green Belt" around Moscow. An $8 billion high speed road, the Moscow – Saint Petersburg motorway (M11), has been proposed to go through the forest to connect Moscow and Saint Petersburg. For this purpose, part of the forest would have been cut down. The construction triggered large protests, which turned violent in July, 2010. On 26 August, President Dmitry Medvedev ordered the construction to be halted.

The M11, a new toll motorway, was proposed to go through the forest. The roadway would connect Moscow and Saint Petersburg.

The proposed road attracted local and international opposition due to deforestation and other environmental issues. The forest's fauna includes foxes, elk, wild boars and a number of species of insects and plants considered endangered.

Logging in the forest started on 14 July 2010, and activists immediately clashed with the construction workers. The activists included local people and a group called "Ecological Defense of the Moscow Region", along with Greenpeace Russia, and the "Left Front" civil movement. On 15 July 2010, environmentalists started to maintain a round-the-clock vigil to prevent the trees from being cut down. On July 28, 2010, dozens of anarchists and antifascists stormed government offices in Khimki. Windows were broken and the assailants left a graffiti with the text "Save the Russian Forest." On 22 August, 2,000 activists attended a concert that was held to protest the construction. On 22 August, two opposition leaders and a human rights activist who were participating in rallies marking the National Flag Day of Russia were detained. They claimed that they were detained "to prevent the action in defense of the Khimki Forest."

Russia's Supreme Court has ruled that the construction of the highway is not illegal. The activists' Khimki Forest Defense movement has filed a suit with the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

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Wikipedia