Environmentalists storm Putin’s dacha

There are not many places in Russia that could make you think you were in Italy or Florida. But such idyllic places do exist, and one of these is on the coast of the Black Sea in the Krasnodar Region. This place is so glorious that it has been the preferred holiday destination for government officials since the Soviet era. This tradition remained intact long after the fall of the Soviet Union, and today this is where both Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Alexander Tkachev, governor of Krasnodar Region, have their dachas. The houses of a huge number of high-ranking Moscow officials are either already located or being built in the same area. But not all of these government employees actually own these sites on paper. According to environmentalists, who are constantly monitoring the Black Sea coastline, Governor Tkachev’s 10-acre estate (which he owns on leasehold) is too small for him, and he regularly holidays in a recreation complex, which he built especially for his own use and, in the process illegally fenced off some of the coastline and cut down some rare trees.

On Aug. 27, three activists were beaten and arrested next to the governor’s dacha. Two of them were detained for five days and one of them – Victor Chirikov – spent 15 days under arrest. But Victor had not committed any act of violence, he had not been involved in a demonstration and he had not trespassed on private land; all he had done was to stage a protest against heavy-handed policing. Environmentalists have one explanation as to why he was held for so long: He has the same surname as the famous Russian activist and environmentalist Evgenia Chirikova (although they are not related).    

Evgenia and her colleagues were not prepared to turn their back on this injustice. They flew from Moscow especially to make their protest known. And they thought the best place to do this would be the dacha of the Prime Minister of Russia near the city of Gelendzhik on the Black Sea. Here it is also noticeable that the coastline has been divided into places for general usage and a specially guarded beach for the “big boss,” where unauthorized access is forbidden.

This is where the environmentalists ended up on Sept. 4. They managed to get around the security guards onto the grounds of the estate. “This was almost like a special forces exercise,” said Chirikova later. “We had to walk on barbed wire, scale a sheer brick wall, and clamber down cliffs. I’ve been walking in the mountains many a time, but this was the hardest trail of my life. There were two security cordons on the shore. We managed to pass through these and put up a banner that said “Freedom for Viktor Chirikov!” Soon the guards came and escorted us out.”    

However, even after all these brave and risky feats, Viktor Chirikov remained under arrest. But Evgenia Chirikova does not think it is the unlawful arrest we should be worried about so much as the indifference and lack of attention on the part of Russian citizens, who could themselves become the victims of injustice at any time. Things need be told as they are, the boundaries between good and evil, and between rights and rights-abuses should be kept clear. Moreover here in Gelendzhik, there will be no Olympics, and therefore none of the constant press attention that comes with it. A one-acre site costs more than $130,000 dollars here, and these sums are, for the most part, within the price range of the “servants of the people” – the ruling bureaucracy. And before we know it, all of this idyllic place will be built over with summer residences of government officials, and the beaches will be cordoned off with barbed wire. The only hope we have is the courage of ordinary citizens.