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The Vyborg District Court of St Petersburg has placed supporters of the park on Zarechnaya Street, Aleksandr and Leokadiya Brodetskikh, as well as Oleg Krygin, under house arrest. This was reported by the city courts’ joint press service.

The activists are being charged under the article on hooliganism (Part 2, Article 213 of the Criminal Code). According to investigators, they “used a minor pretext—discontent with the construction works” to “enter” the construction site. Then, “acting intentionally and without cause, and displaying disrespectful behaviour” towards two employees of the State Institution ‘Transport Organiser,’ they “attacked them by repeatedly punching them in the area of vital organs, as well as spraying them with an unidentified tear gas, thereby causing the victims physical harm and moral suffering.”

As noted by “Bumaga,” witnesses in the park defenders’ chat write that the activists did not enter the construction site, and the conflict took place on the pavement. Moreover, according to them, it was the ‘Transport Organisers’ who beat up the protesters. In total, six people were detained that day. Two of them were released without charges. The fate of another remains unknown.

Earlier, the pro-government Telegram channel “RUSSIAN COMMUNITY OF PETROGRAD” published video footage of the incident. The footage shows several people in a heated argument. One person uses a spray can, and someone else is knocked to the ground. It is unclear from the footage who initiated the conflict. The Telegram channel commented on the video: “The developer hires some thugs to disperse the locals.”

Brodetskikh and Krygin were detained on the day of the incident, 18 July. The following day, on 19 July, they were formally charged. The court has ordered house arrest until 17 September.

  • Protests against the construction of a bus depot on the site of the park have been ongoing for several years. The Investigative Committee has repeatedly opened criminal cases over negligence against the ‘Transport Organiser’; construction works have been suspended each time. However, the cases were later closed.