Press Release, 18.02.2025

Photo: Kirill Yankov / Photo by the Yabloko Press Service

An alternative plan for a new entrance to the city of Korolyov, developed by Kirill Yankov, a member of the Public Council under the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation and a member of the Party Arbitration of the Yabloko party, has been sent to Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Marat Khusnullin. The government is preparing proposals to solve the problem of traffic jams at the entrance to Korolyov. President Vladimir Putin gave such an order in December 2024 following the President’s Direct Line. Kirill Yankov’s plan was sent to the government by the interregional public organisation “Expert Council for Nature Reserves”.

Earlier, the Governor of the Moscow region, immediately after the question of the need to solve traffic jams at the entrance to Korolyov arose during the President’s Direct Line, said that the entrance would be organised through the territory of the Losiny Ostrov National Reserve Park. Although several years earlier, the same Governor Vorobyov cancelled the option of the Shchyolkovskoye Highway alternate, which affected the territory of the national park. Both projects caused indignation among residents of the Moscow region and environmentalists: new roads deal another blow to the ecosystem of the Losiny Ostrov National Park. In the case of the Shchyolkovskoye Highway alternate, Kirill Yankov also had proposed an alternative project. Now officials and environmentalists state that it is necessary to look for alternative solutions to the problems.

“The option that the Moscow region authorities are currently lobbying for is to open the existing old road for traffic, which is currently used by no one except for the patrol cars of the national park. But the road has sharp 90-degree turns, there are many pedestrians, cyclists, and in winter – skiers. The speed of traffic there will be low, not many cars will be able to pass, and this will not solve the problem of entering Korolyov. But this will cause serious damage to the flora and fauna of the national park,” Kirill Yankov comments on the situation.

It should be noted that the issue of road construction was also raised in the Moscow City Duma. Sergei Mitrokhin, then Yabloko deputy of the Moscow City Duma, suggested that his colleagues send a letter to Svetlana Radionova, head of Rosprirodnadzor (Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resource Usage), with an appeal to prevent the construction of the road through the national park. At that time, the pro-government majority of Moscow City Duma deputies ignored Mitrokhin’s proposal.

In March, the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation will hold new hearings on the issue of road construction through Losiny Ostrov. Kirill Yankov intends to defend the interests of Moscow Region residents who are against the destruction of the national park’s ecosystem.