"We wake up to an inhuman scream." Residents in Surgut are complaining about a sobering-up station that opened in their building.

People don't like the noise and shouting of drunk people who go there, as well as the trash they leave behind.

"We've already come to terms with the constant slamming of UAZ van doors and the constant rattling of the establishment's door, which shakes the floor. People who are brought in are vomiting around the corner of the building... At 5:00 a.m., my husband and I are awakened by the inhuman scream of a woman screaming that she's being killed... And they're simply trying to drag this woman into the establishment by the arms," пишет In a post by a resident of a house with a sobering-up center in the public group "K-inform".

In response, officials from the Yugra Department of Social Development stated that when planning the sobering-up center's premises, they took into account the interests of the people living in the building, including children:

"To prevent contact between the sobering-up center's service recipients and the building's residents, the entrance to the building is located on the street side. The windows of the rooms housing the service recipients also face the street, not the courtyard. The windows are coated with opaque glass. A cleaning staff is on staff to maintain cleanliness and order."

Residents expressed opposition to the establishment of a sobering-up center in their building a year ago. They were promised that people would be brought there voluntarily, and only those who were not violent.

Until recently, sobering-up centers in Russia were closed. They were under the jurisdiction of police departments and frequently featured in crime reports. One of the most high-profile cases occurred in Tomsk in 2010: former police officer Alexei Mitayev beat journalist Konstantin Popov to death in a sobering-up center. Mitayev was sentenced to 12 years in a maximum-security penal colony. In 2011, all sobering-up centers in Russia were closed.

In December 2020, the State Duma passed a law reinstating the sobering-up center system. According to the document, Russian regions can independently decide on the creation of these specialized organizations—both public and private.