Thousands of demonstrators in northern Russia continued months of protests against Moscow’s plans to ship its garbage outside its city limits and demanded their governor to resign.
Russians across 26 regions, including Arkhangelsk, have staged protests against Moscow’s plan to solve a trash crisis by sending waste to surrounding regions. Anti-trash reform sentiment has been most pronounced in Arkhangelsk and Syktyvkar as authorities construct a massive landfill at a rail station in the former village of Shiyes.
Between 2,000 and 3,000 protesters gathered for an unauthorized rally Sunday, calling for Arkhangelsk region Governor Igor Orlov to resign over the 10.5 billion ruble ($160.7 million) landfill’s construction, media outlets reported.
Protest organizer Yury Chesnokov was detained at the demonstration until Tuesday for an unpaid fine. On Monday, the OVD-Info police-monitoring website reported that at least seven other protesters had been detained.
Around 3,000 demonstrators in the neighboring republic of Komi also demanded the resignation of their governor over the Shiyes landfill.
