THE stench hanging over Volokolamsk, a sleepy town west of Moscow, stings the nostrils like tiny needles. Downwind from the nearby Yadrovo landfill site, the noxious blend of sulphur, rot and methane becomes unbearable. Last month it sent at least 50 children to the hospital with respiratory ailments and rashes, and has brought thousands onto the streets in protest. In late March residents physically attacked the head of the local district. A ten-year-old girl in a pink hat became the movement’s symbol after making a throat-slitting gesture towards the regional governor, Andrei Vorobyov.
As the authorities struggle to snuff out the smell, unrest has spread. At least half a dozen districts in the Moscow region have seen garbage-related pickets in recent weeks. Residents have focused their rage on local officials, such as the mayor and Mr Vorobyov. They take pains to present their protests as apolitical. “What politics?” said Valery Karpinsky, a...Continue reading
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