Nikolai Rybakov’s Facebook page, 12.09.2021

Photo by the Yabloko Press Service

Together with the activists of the Sverdlovsk Region branch of Yabloko – the leader of the regional Yabloko branch Maxim Petlin, the candidate for the regional elections Georgy Sergienko and the headquarters volunteers, – we went to Nizhny Tagil, where the candidates Pavel Khoroshilov and Irina Ivanova were waiting for us. On our way, we stopped at the village of Chernoistochinsk, which stands on the bank of a reservoir that supplies drinking water to several cities, including Nizhny Tagil. Last year, the residents found a large number of floating dead fish in the pond (as the locals call the reservoir). The main reason was the rotting of blue-green algae, while the treatment facilities could not cope with the treatment of wastewater. Yabloko believes that the state is now obliged to invest in the repair of treatment facilities throughout the country. This is especially important in regions such as the Sverdlovsk Region, the drinking water in the region (according to the RF Accounts Chamber) is the most polluted in Russia.

The second problem of the city is the extremely high level of air pollution. The reason is the numerous factories, in particular the Nizhny Tagil Metallurgical Plant, its emissions poison the environment in the city. There are many cities in Russia where large enterprises emit harmful substances into the atmosphere. In such places, it is especially necessary to carry out environmental monitoring and pay attention to the development of healthcare, since emissions from enterprises have a strong impact on health of people.

Then we went to the campaign cubes of Irina Ivanova, our candidate for the State Duma. We distributed newspapers and the party’s programme to voters who, in Nizhny Tagil, have warm attitude towards Yabloko. We also met with party activists. Anna Ardasheva, a candidate for the Legislative Assembly of the Sverdlovsk Region, spoke about School No. 138 in Nizhny Tagil, where her son studies. Part of the windows at the school are boarded up, some are sealed with foil. Heating radiators do not function in some classrooms, rooms are heated with hot air blowers. They promise to renovate the school by 2023, that is, for at least another two years, children will have to study in inappropriate conditions. And such is the situation in many Russian schools. At the same time, Anna spoke with enthusiasm about the wonderful teaching staff of the school, about the soulful employees who created a family atmosphere at the school. That is why we are going to win mandates in the State Duma so that people in such schools could study and work in peace. But if one continuously make tanks and guns, one will never get to the problems of School No. 138 in Nizhny Tagil.

On the way back to Yekaterinburg, we stopped at Nevyansk. The city is famous for the Demidovs’ Nevyansk tower, built in 1781. The tower, like the Leaning Tower, has a slope. According to legend, the manufacturers Demidovs arranged the production of counterfeit gold coins in the basements, later they flooded it so that the production would not be detected by the tsarist law enforcement agencies. The tower is a cultural heritage site.

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