Press Release, 03.04.2018

The Moscow branch of Yabloko held a rally in defense of the historical environment of the Basmanny District of Moscow. The rally was held under the slogan “Save Basmanny! In defense of the historical environment, cultural heritage and social objects of the area”. The action was held in the park Gorka on 1 April.

Yevgeny Remizova, deputy of the Municipal Council of the Basmanny District, opened the rally and said that she would continue to defend her area together with the residents.

“The authorities will never say: this is the right moment for protest. For them, the protest is always untimely and unappropriate. But we, the residents of Basmanny, do not need a special moment to be concerned about our neighbourhood and our neighbours. We worry about our houses every day. And we will always defend our district,” she said.

Irina Strelnikova, a representative of the Arkhnadzor movement (Architectural Control) and a Moscow guide, told the rally what monuments of the cultural heritage would be affected by the plans of the authorities. There are several dozens of such. She stressed that new construction roughly violated the legislation on cultural protection zones, that were officially registered for a large part of the Basmanny district. Strelnikova called to spare no effort so that to preserve the architectural masterpieces of the past and pass it on to the next generations.

The meeting was also attended by parents whose children live and study in boarding school No 28, which, due to renovation, will either be squeezed by the new houses, or be evicted and demolished.

Alexei Yegorkin, Basmanny district activist and candidate for municipal elections in the 2017, also spoke at the rally. He called for a change in the development paradigm of the city from the “extensive milking of the townspeople”, the development of tourism, and giving Moscow the status of a historic settlement.

Moscow Yabloko leader Sergei Mitrokhin said that a large number of historic buildings would be destroyed in Basmanny area because of the ‘renovation’ plans of the Moscow city authorities.

“The historic area will be either built up by new houses, and the historic building will not be seen at all, as, for example, the Ascension Church on Gorokhovoeye Polye built by the famous architect Kazakov – this church will not be seen by anyone, even at near by. Also, the authorities are going to evict an orphanage for disabled children from the district. All that Muscovites need is the social sphere, green spaces, historical buildings, – the present Moscow authorities is taking all this away from them. And in return, the authorities gives them out only some kind of town-building disgrace,” he said.

According to Mitrokhin, there is only one way out – changing the power, which he decided to do by running in the mayoral election in Moscow.

The proposal to change the Mayor of Moscow was supported by other participants in the rally.