In Krasnodar Territory, builders cut down century-old junipers in the Reserve

In Utrish, Krasnodar Territory, the builders have started to cut down century-old junipers in the area of the second lagoon - in the very centre of the "Bolshoi Utrish" Natural Reserve. On December 15, the site was visited by the investigatory group from the Department of Internal Affairs of the city of Anapa, accompanied by the "Green" activists.

"The appearance of militia hasn't frightened the wood-cutters from the LLC 'Glavpromstroy', who went on with their work. The militia registered the fact of wood felling only at the start of the new road and then retired. As to the employees of the investigatory, they gave no orders prescribing to stop or banning further felling," Andrei Rudomakha has commented.

None of the three arriving militiamen reached the place where relic junipers were cut down. The examination of the site, where felling went on in the presence of militiamen, was not recorded into the protocol.

The people engaged in felling behaved very aggressively. According to the ecologist, they openly declared that "there's no more reserve here." The site superintendent, who three days earlier had twisted hands of one of the "green" activists and dragged away his car with bulldozer, made his aggressive tricks and utterances right in the presence of the militiamen.

"When the militia quitted the place of illegal felling, angered cutters ran after one of the ecologists, threatening him of physical execution," Mr Rudomakha has added.

In total, during the last two days, the deforestation has gone deep into the reserve territory by more than one kilometre. The scale of intrusion into the virgin nature of Utrish become more and more catastrophic, the ecologist asserts.