A pensioner who went on a picket against deforestation on Mount Mashuk spoke about the pressure from security forces

Environmentalist and social activist Valentina Velichkina spoke about the pressure from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the FSB who came to her house. about this . writes Kavkaz.Realii

According to the 74-year-old activist, the security forces came to her on July 29, immediately after her return from Moscow, where the woman was detained at a picket against deforestation on Mount Mashuk in the Stavropol Territory.

“They asked me how I came across Moscow human rights activists and deputy [Yulia] Galyamin . The FSB officer said that it was undesirable for me to communicate with her, since she received foreign funding and could receive the status of a “foreign agent”. Such behavior is incorrect on their part, I believe that this is pressure, ”said Velichkina.

Valentina Velichkina was detained on July 26 near the monument to Marshal Zhukov, where she went out with a single picket against deforestation on Mount Mashuk in the Stavropol Territory. The woman arrived in the capital to deliver a letter from local activists to Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov.

The activist was taken to the Kitai-Gorod police department, where Yevgeny Kurakin, a defender from OVD-Info, helped her. Velichkina was released from the department without a protocol: the head of the police department noted that the pensioner had not violated the federal law on rallies.

• Mount Mashuk is a monument of nature and archeology of federal significance. Eco-activists and local residents have been protesting against deforestation on the mountain for more than 10 years. In July 2022, the regional authorities allowed cutting on the mountain for construction.