Press Release, 20.08.2020

On August 18, the Bashkiria branch of Yabloko held a picket in Ufa against the destruction of a world natural heritage – the Kushtau monadnock. Albert Khusainov, Chairman of the regional branch of the party, was holding a banner with the text “Let Kushtau Live. The Yabloko Party: Let’s Protect the World’s Natural Heritage! ”

“Kushtau, like the other two remaining monadnocks, is a natural landmark not only in Bashkiria, but also on the entire planet Earth. Scientists, geologists, biologists and cultural and historical specialists named these monadnocks among the seven special natural values ​​of Russia. Their origin and description is included in encyclopedias and textbooks of geology,” Albert Khusainov emphasised.

The leader of the regional branch of Yabloko explained that Kushtau is a monadnock (hill) over 200 meters high among the flat steppe. Formed over 200 million years from accumulated remnants of dead organisms: brachiopods and shells. There remains only three such mountains on the globe, and they all stand side by side, being the pride of Bashkiria and a place of tourism and admiration for the local population. These ancient deposits eventually turned into limestone, which became the raw material for the Bashkir Soda Company. One of the monadnocks has already been developed and instead of a mountain, there is a pit now. The threat of destruction hangs over the remaining three, including Kushtau.

The inhabitants of Bashkiria and environmentalists are protesting against the destruction of the Kushtau monadnock, where the Bashkir Soda Company plans to extract limestone. In early August, when the Bashkir Soda Company began to cut down the forest on the monadnock, the defenders of Kushtau set up a tent camp. On August 15, employees of the private security company and soldiers of the Russian Guard destroyed the camp, and about 80 people were detained. On August 16, Radiy Khabirov, head of Bashkiria, promised to suspend limestone mining at the monadnock Kushtau until the opponents of the mountain’s development and the Bashkir Soda Company reach a compromise.