In Buryatia, "protest effigies" were erected for Maslenitsa. Today, police "arrested" them.

Police "arrestedScarecrows with signs against apatite mining were erected on the streets of the village of Oshurkovo in Buryatia by residents who staged a Maslenitsa picket. Police officers also visited the residents. 

"However, since we've been actively fighting since the summer, and since November we've been dragged through court cases—which, by the way, we won in February—the rural community has gradually lost its fear of the 'policemen.' So far, it's been polite, but they've sent the 'policemen' packing. And they took the scarecrows, even though we planned to take them down ourselves over the weekend," one of the activists told NeMoskva. 

The trial the Oshurkovo resident is referring to took place on charges of "illegal protest." In September, people gathered at a village meeting and decided to ban the development of the deposit. 

"Four of us were given administrative fines of 20 rubles each, and we appealed that case: we had to go to court four times, but the meeting was still recognized as a meeting. We're now preparing lawsuits against the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the administration, and we'll come up with something else. Overall, life is going well. The only thing is, the village head almost had a heart attack because of these lawsuits and spent time in the hospital," the activist said.

They are fighting against apatite mining in Oshurkovo: quarry plan The mine will be built just a few hundred meters from residential buildings. People believe that mining in this area will harm the ecology of the Selenga River and, consequently, Lake Baikal. Furthermore, apatite has been mined here before, and several people died from poisoning as a result of the accident. 

Video: "Deeper Than Baikal"