Stanitsa Poltavskaya: People who are not afraid
On its third day, November 2, 2022, NeMoskva published a lengthy article about residents of the Kuban village of Poltavskaya protesting a landfill located next to rice paddies and canals. It was titled "I am the village of Poltavskaya, and I have cancer."
These checks yield over 325 tons of grain per year—40% of Krasnodar's rice. This means the landfill could poison not only the residents of Poltavska but also anyone who decides to cook porridge or pilaf.
For a whole year, we've been watching people picket, block garbage trucks, and try to get their voices heard by the authorities. And how the authorities pretend nothing is happening until the very end, only to openly frame the activists.
And here's the result: Rosselkhoznadzor (Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance) recently woke up and announced that Poltava rice has off-the-charts lead and arsenic levels, so it will be withdrawn from circulation. This means the risk of poisoning will be reduced throughout Russia—thanks to the brave people of Poltava.
We've compiled the entire history of protests against the Poltavskaya landfill in our timeline.
15/01/2022
Over a thousand residents of Poltavskaya village attended a meeting to form a Public Council for the Closure of the Landfill. They also drafted a resolution, which, among other things, demanded the closure of the Poltavskaya landfill and an independent environmental and sanitary-epidemiological audit, a review of the municipal solid waste distribution system in the Krasnodar Krai, and a ban on heavy-duty trucks passing through the village.
In the video: Natalia Gariaeva, chair of the public council for the closure of the Poltava landfill.
06/05/2022
Residents of Poltavskaya have drafted a petition to Putin asking him to close the landfill.
17/05/2022
People flocked to the prosecutor's office to file a complaint against the landfill. They then blocked traffic: villagers had been silently crossing the same road numerous times. A kilometer-long traffic jam formed.
18/05/2022
Police detained one of the participants in the May 17 protest, pensioner Lyudmila Grishkova.
20/05/2022
The court fined Lyudmila Grishkova and her husband, Viktor Parkhomenko, 5 rubles each for "violating social distancing at a pedestrian crossing."
25/05/2022
Yuri Trubachev, a 68-year-old resident of the village who uses a wheelchair, went to the picket with a sign reading, "No to the landfill! President, save our children." Krasnoarmeysky District administration officials called the police and the National Guard.
In the video: Yuri Trubachev, a resident of the village of Poltavskaya
16/06/2022
Yuri Trubachev again went to picket the district administration building. The police showed up again.
29/07/2022
Lyudmila Grishkova went to the district administration building with a poster reading "#GovernorHelp."
03/08/2022
Another resident of Poltavskaya took to the streets with a sign that read, "Poltavskaya wants to live—the landfill must be closed!"—this time outside the Krasnodar Krai administration building.
11/08/2022
Yuri Trubachev blocked the only road leading to the landfill. He held a sign that read, "Stop the Garbage Genocide." He was cited for a traffic violation and fined 1,000 rubles.
12/08/2022
Three residents of the village took to the streets with posters against the landfill.
15/08/2022
Activists published the results of an independent analysis. Water samples from the rice field irrigation system were found to contain a large number of generalized coliform bacteria. Previous analyses had shown mercury levels exceeding the maximum permissible concentration by 32 times.
01/09/2022
District courts in Krasnodar have begun hearing the first administrative lawsuits filed by village residents against Rosprirodnadzor and the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Krasnodar Territory, demanding that their inaction be declared illegal.
05/09/2022
Residents of the village blocked the only road to the landfill, bringing plastic chairs for the elderly and containers of hot tea. Full garbage trucks lined the road. Police threatened to use force. That evening, district head Yuri Vasin visited the protesters and promised to file a lawsuit demanding the closure of the landfill and hold a public meeting on September 17.
07/09/2022
Vasin filed a lawsuit, but activists believe it was drafted in such a way that the case was a sure bet (as it later turned out).
14/09/2022
Lyudmila Grishkova, who was charged with participating in a protest against the dumping of garbage at a landfill, was brought to court, but the judge recused herself and the case was postponed.
17/09/2022
A public meeting was held, at which residents once again voiced their demands, and district administration officials called them an "aggressive minority" who were "trying to impose their will on the normal majority." The standoff finally entered an open phase.
In the video: Sergey Soin, a resident of the village of Poltavskaya
22-24/09/2022
The court fined six participants in the September 5th protest. Most of them were sentenced to 5 rubles each, while Lyudmila Grishkova received 75 rubles because she was a repeat offender.
15/10/2022
Entrepreneur Andrey Garyaev, who led the protest against the landfill from the very beginning, committed suicide. After he began experiencing serious business problems and even more serious health issues, his ex-wife, Natalia, replaced him as chair of the Public Council for the Closure of the Poltava Landfill. Garyaev's relatives believe that harassment by local authorities was one of the main reasons for his suicide.
17/10/2022
The Krasnoarmeysky District Court upheld the district prosecutor's office's claim to eliminate numerous violations in the landfill's operation.
02/11/2022
The newly created Telegram channel "Govorit NeMoskva" (Not Moscow) published a large article "I am the village of Poltavskaya, and I have cancer."From now on, we will closely monitor the events in Poltava.
16/11/2022
Chairperson of the Public Council for the Closure of the Landfill Natalia Garyaeva and her husband Vadim Motovilov tried to detain Based on a report drawn up after the September protest, the couple considered this illegal and categorically refused to go to court.
21/01/2023
A previously convicted local resident filed a police report against Natalia Garyaeva, accusing her of plotting a contract killing of district head Yuri Vasin and blowing up a bridge leading to a landfill. Gariaeva called it "bra"house".
24/01/2023
Krasnodar regional the court confirmedthat the Poltava landfill operates with violations.
23/03/2023
Residents of Poltava once again blocked the road in protest against the landfill.
29/03/2023
After the governor of Kuban, Veniamin Kondratyev, promised that the road to the landfill would no longer run past residential buildings, people took to the streetsto check how this promise is fulfilled (spoiler: in no way).
06/04/2023
Residents have once again blocked the road for garbage trucks. Police are filing tickets against them, and some are being detained. One activist is threatening to set herself on fire. A multi-ton garbage truck is being used during the protest. ran into a group of CossacksOne woman received medical assistance.
14/04/2023
Siloviki came with a search to work for Natalia Garyaeva and Vadim Motovilov.
19/04/2023
Natalia Garyaeva went to the prosecutor's office building Krasnodar Krai with a poster: "Stop terrorizing businesses to please the garbage oligarchs!"
27/04/2023
Activists from the village of Poltavskaya, who were traveling to Krasnodar to submit a complaint to the governor, stopped by the policeThe bus driver was cited for "a discrepancy between the tachograph reading and the speedometer." The activists continued on foot.
10/05/2023
Head of the Russian Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin took over the situation The landfill in Poltavskaya village is under personal control. A criminal case has been opened.
26/05/2023
Police dispersed the residents, who again blocked the road to the landfill. Ten people were held at the police station until evening, without food or water. They were then fined 2,000 rubles.
19/07/2023
Residents of the village recorded a video message to the President of Belarus Lukashenko with a request to tell Putin about the landfill.
26/07/2023
Activist Sergei Salnikov, who was driving his father home from the oncology center where he was undergoing treatment, was detained by police.
21/08/2023
Environmental activists from Poltava sent to the editorial office "NeMoskvy" (NotMoscow) video, filmed on the banks of the Poltavskyi eriky (river) that flows through the village. It shows a large number of dead fish.
04/09/2023
The police officers came to work environmental activist Vadim Motovilov and demanded that he appear for questioning regarding a "defamatory comment" on social media. And the chairman of the National Rice Union, Igor Lobach, filed a denunciation against Natalia Garyaeva, accusing her of spreading false information about the quality of Kuban rice, "likely with the aim of undermining Russia's food security."
In the video: Vadim Motovilov, deputy chairman of the ANO Green Stanitsa, environmental public figure, resident of the Poltavskaya village
27/09/2023
Yuri Trubachev He was convicted of organizing an uncoordinated rally in the village of Poltavskaya and fined 15,000 rubles.
03/10/2023
On the ground a major fire occurredResidents, choking from the smoke, demanded a state of emergency be declared. The authorities failed to respond. The fire was extinguished only three days later.
30/10/2023
Rosselkhoznadzor seized Rice grown in Poltava region was removed from circulation due to heavy metals exceeding the maximum permissible concentration.
"Investigators are now pestering all these clerks from the regulatory agencies and trying to find out everything related to the Poltava test site. Perhaps they turned a blind eye before, following orders from their superiors, but now they're unlikely to do so," says Natalia Gariaeva.
