Activists block the Moscow Beltway, protesting the construction of another unwanted garbage dump

In the town of Likino-Dulyovo, outside Moscow, local residents blocked off the Moscow Beltway (Route A108) to stop forest clearing in preparation for a new landfill site. Activists told the television station Dozhd that riot police responded to the demonstration with force, reportedly breaking one woman’s rib. According to oppositionist Dmitry Gudkov, who shared videos of the police response on Twitter, officers arrested 15 people.

Protests and clashes with the police in Likino-Dulyovo have continued since the spring. Residents oppose the construction of a waste treatment and incineration plant at a local wet peatland forest, which they say is home to endangered species and feeds several nearby rivers.

The company reportedly contracted to build the facility is “Charter,” 51 percent of which belongs to Igor Chaika, the son of Russia’s attorney general.

According to the newspaper Novaya Gazeta, local deputies approved the construction project on May 23, though the plan was not approved by Russia’s Natural Resources Ministry or Federal Forestry Agency.

The construction of new garbage dumps and pollution from existing waste treatment centers has been one of the main drivers of protests outside Moscow and in non-metropolitan areas across Russia. Recently, the biggest demonstrations have occurred in the Arkhangelsk region, where crews are building a landfill to process trash from Moscow.