The court rejected a lawsuit filed by residents of ancient Yakutia villages seeking to demolish their homes to make way for a bridge across the Lena River.

Nine village residents Tabaga и Old Tabaga asked to declare the government's order illegal Yakutia Torboznoye Radio reports that their land is being confiscated. Locals claim the document violates private property rights, has not undergone anti-corruption due diligence, and was not published legally.

The Supreme Court of Yakutia ruled that land can be forcibly expropriated for large investment projects. The document was published in a supplement to the Yakutia newspaper (despite the fact that this supplement is only available in libraries). It also concluded that there was no violation of local residents' rights, as "owners may use the land, but not construct capital structures on it that would interfere with future construction" of the bridge and road leading to it.

Despite the fact that the construction of the Lena Bridge had been discussed for decades, the list of sites to be expropriated was only published on the construction site's official website on January 31, 2025. Residents of the villages of Tabaga and Staraya Tabaga are planning to have their lands expropriated. 153 plots. Both settlements are part of the Yakutsk urban district. Tabaga has a population of about 2000, while Old Tabaga has a population of over 600.

As she told then NotMoscow A Yakutsk resident says Tabaga has very old village houses, a school, a post office, and a community center. Meanwhile, Yakutia has plenty of uninhabited areas and forests, including near the Lena River. According to the interviewee, a possible reason for the confiscation of residential land is that the remaining territories are federal property, making it easier to seize land from people.

The bridge across the Lena River will be built by the VIS Group, which also built the bridge in Crimea and bridges in Vladivostok. It is linked to Vladimir Putin's friends—the family. Rotenbergs. Investments are estimated at 83,4 billion rubles. The first piles were driven into the bridge's foundation in 2024, and construction is scheduled to be completed in 2028.

One of the episodes of "Why Not in Moscow" is dedicated to the construction of the bridge across the Lena River.