In the Anapa village of Sukko, a natural monument is under threat: Cypress Lake has dried up, and people are walking right on the roots of rare trees.
Cypress Lake in the Anapa village of Sukko has dried up, exposing the roots of the cypress trees. The fence that protected them is "lying haphazardly throughout the protected area." A video about this was posted by Anapa blogger Natalia Veselova.
Cypress Lake is popular with tourists who enjoy taking photos there, ignoring the fences.
“There are already trampled paths between the trees,” wrote Natalia.
The issue of ownership and attempts to return land
Since 2017, the area near Anapa, where Lake Sukko is located, owns Gornoye Ozero LLC (part of Roman Abramovich's financial empire). The company's owner is billionaire Alexander Abramov. Rosimushchestvo tried to return the site to federal ownership, since the site was formed on a body of water, which is prohibited by Russian land legislation, but to no avail.
History of the natural monument
Thirty-two bald cypress trees were brought to Anapa from North America in the 1930s and established in an artificial lake named "Kiparisovoye" (Cypress Lake). These trees are rare in this area, so the cypress grove is designated a natural monument.