Solidarity with Sochi

Contrary to the expectations of the robots who attacked “Question of the Day” on the “Daily Journal” website, the co-chairman of the United Democratic Movement “Solidarity” Boris Nemtsov, together with his comrades, safely reached Sochi. On March 12, Solidarity, at a retreat, unanimously approved Nemtsov as a candidate for the post of mayor of the city. The meeting was attended by representatives of the Sochi public who had previously appealed to Nemtsov to run for mayor. Speakers included the director of the public institution “Sochi Institute of Social and Civil Life” Valery Suchkov, the head of the initiative group “Union of Residents of the Imereti Valley” Natalya Kalinovskaya, a member of the Sochi branch of the Russian Geographical Society and activist of the environmental watch of the North Caucasus Alla Yusupova and others. Sochi residents complained that there is still no clear plan for the development of the city; due to excessive construction, the city is losing its resort function; there is no waste management program; construction threatens an environmental disaster. In the coming hours, Nemtsov must submit documents to the local election commission.

At the moment, there have been no actions against Nemtsov and Solidarity in the city, although it is known that representatives of Kremlin youth organizations also arrived in Sochi. Movement member Ilya Yashin writes about this on his blog. He also reported that on the afternoon of March 11, FSB operatives came to the hotel where members of the movement later checked in and asked to see the rooms reserved for Moscow guests.