Small farmers appeal to Putin, saying they're being ‘strangled’ by Big Agriculture and corrupt officials

Russian farmers from the Kuban region have recorded a video appeal to Vladimir Putin, asking the president to help free those detained in a recent tractor protest. The message, made by farmers Nina Karpenko, Igor Maslov, and Alexander Matvienko, was posted on the website of the newspaper Novaya Gazeta.

In the video, the farmers say they came to Moscow to tell the president that "the Kuban is in a state of chaos" due to land redistribution and the illegal implementation of court decisions. They hope that a commission will be sent to the region to investigate these issues.

According to the farmers, large enterprises and agricultural holdings "are trying to strangle small farmers" out of business. Big agriculture, the small farmer say, is getting help from the local authorities, as well as the district attorney and the courts.

"Our request to Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin is to pay some attention to the villages in the Kuban, to understand us, and to help," the farmers said, adding that they hope the president will also help the farmers who were detained as the result of a recent tractor protest.