Forests being cut down in Moscow to deploy air defense complexes — The Insider
S-400 air defense system in the park-reserve Losiny Island in the range and combat position (Photo:The Insider)
The Moscow authorities have been cutting down forests in several districts of the Russian capital in order to place air defense systems there, according to the investigation of Russian publication The Insider published on March 13.
As the publication writes, in particular, there has been felling of trees in the Losiny Island park, in the fields of the Timiryazev Agricultural Academy and in the security zone of the Kolomenskoye Reserve Museum.
At the beginning of this year, it became known that an S-400 air defense system was being set up in the Losiny Island nature reserve.
This outraged local residents and environmentalists, but in response to their appeal, the local authorities replied that the purpose of building military sites is to “ensure the national security and defense of the Russian Federation.”
A large forest area on the banks of the Moskva River was destroyed just opposite the Kolomenskoye manor in the Kuryanovo micro district. It was here that the ecosystem suffered the most, the Insider said.
Currently, a site for the needs of the Russian Ministry of Defense is being built in this area, which is supposed to occupy five hectares. In response to residents’ complaints, the Russian State Duma said that it would have an “industrial zone, a dog kennel and a sewage treatment plant.”
The publication reports that due to the proximity of the large-scale construction, activists are concerned about the preservation of the Kolomenskoye Reserve and the Church of the Ascension, which is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
A monument may lose its status due to a sudden change in the landscape around it. In Kolomenskoye, military equipment will be located both on the protected natural territory and on the territory of cultural heritage.
Earlier in January, air defense systems were spotted in Novo-Ogaryovo near the residence of dictator Vladimir Putin, on the roof of the Russian Ministry of Defense building and on the roof of an office center near the Kremlin.
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