Snowmen in Nikabas

How protests against the construction of the mosque in Perm grew into the Xenophobic campaign

In February, the residents of Perm protested against the construction of the mosque. Instead of traditional slogans, they blinded snowmen and put them in Nicaby, hanging Islamofobic posters on them.

This action has become a new stage in a tense conflict. Some protesters speak of a lack of social objects and land use problems, others openly promote Xenophobic views. Local authorities have already responded to what was happening: they opened a criminal case against one of the organizers, and the protest community in social networks was blocked. The New Evrope understands how this conflict has developed, who is participating in it and whether the parties have a chance for a peaceful decision.

How in the Upper Courier they decided to build a mosque

The plans for the construction of the mosque in the Verkhnyaya Kurya microdistrict in Perm became known in May 2024. According to Kommersant, a charity fund was created to implement the project, and Ruslan Ibragimov, the son of the Perm businessman Rivchat Ibrahimov, was established.

Ruslan proposed to build a mosque on Verkhne-Kuryinskaya Street, where he had previously privatized several municipal land plots. As Properm.ru wrote , the Ibragimov partner in the project was the deputy of the Perm City Duma Vladimir Plotnikov.

Who are the Ibragimovs and carpenters?

As reported by the replica, Ruslan Ibragimov leads several companies in the field of real estate and trade in products, drinks and tobacco products. His father appears among the founders of nine companies with a total annual revenue of about three billion rubles.

Plotnikova media is called the "shadow mayor of Perm." In the past, he had a criminal record for extortion, but after an amnesty in 1991 he was actively engaged in business and social activities. In 2016, he was elected to the Perm City Duma. Plotnikov controls a number of enterprises, its main source of income is associated with the Kamkabel plant.

As the “replica” mentions, “the main political resource of the deputy is in his good relationship with friends of Vladimir Putin by the Rotenberg brothers.” In 2021, he became the most wealthy deputy of the City Duma of Perm with an income of 221 million rubles.

More than 10 mosques are valid in Perm. Back in 2012, the number of Muslims in the city reached 100 thousand people, in the Perm Territory as a whole-200 thousand. According to the most relevant estimates , almost 25 million Muslims now live in Russia.

However, there are no mosques in the Verkhnyaya Kurya microdistrict. The nearest - Perm Cathedral - is located on the opposite bank of the Kama River. The new project is designed to change the situation: the planned mosque for 200 people should be two -story, with two minarets 44 meters high. In addition, they plan to build a madrassah (Muslim religious-educational and educational institution), a residence, a square and parking with 50 seats.

The spiritual department of the Muslims of the Perm Territory supported the construction of the mosque. She, Mufti, said Anvar Khazrat Ablaev, will allow "preserving the spiritual traditions of the Tatars and Bashkirs", and will also help in "the prevention of radical Islamic movements." “I think this is a good project, the mosque will be the beauty of this area,” suggested Ablaev.

The regional authorities agreed on the use of the site for the mosque in Verkhnyaya Kurier in July - after almost two months from the moment the federal media spoke about the discontent of local residents. Many still protest, while construction has not yet begun.

How protests developed - from chat to snowmen

News about the mosque caused the discontent of Perm from the very beginning. According to the replica publication, the protests against construction were headed by Anna Pyanzina and Roman Yushkov. Pyanzina created a group in Viber and distributed information among local residents. Together with Yushkov, she conducted agitation, saying that the construction of the mosque threatens the national character of the district.

Yushkov is a nationalist famous in Perm, who began his social activity as an environmental activist, but since the 2010s switched to a right-wing agenda. He became the administrator of the public “Upper Kurya against the Migrant Mosque”, where nationalist materials were published along with protest rhetoric against construction. Yushkov was repeatedly prosecuted for publishing with extremist statements and the Gomophobia group created by him, known as aggressive anti-LGBT+ rhetoric.

In May 2024, the inhabitants of the Upper Kurya recorded a video message calling for the construction of the mosque. In it, they expressed fears that after the opening of the structure, migrants would begin to come to the area.

“If a mosque is built here, then this will give confidence to the migrants, Muslims, and they will begin to come here massively. We know that among them not all law -abiding ones. Those who will arrange lawlessness can come here, "

- said one of the inhabitants during a video message.

Soon, among the protesters, the statement was finally entrenched that a “mosque for migrants” would be built near their houses. At some point, the inhabitants of the Upper Kurya even began to disseminate information that Muslims in their area are less than 2%, but the source of these data remains unknown. In parallel in social networks, many Islamofob comments appeared: such statements were often accompanied by a reminder that Tajikistan citizens were performers in Crocus City Hall.

Moreover, opponents of the construction of the mosque in Perm launched a petition, which by this moment was signed by almost five thousand people. “We deeply respect the interests and religious needs of the indigenous Tatar-Bashkir population. However, the current general offensive of mosques is in no way connected with the interests of the Tatars and Bashkirs. It marks the creeping colonization of Russia with foreign strangers, ”the petition is indicated. Nationalists from the Russian Assembly openly support the protesters: "It is obvious that the mosque is intended for foreign migrants and, apparently, will become the center of crystallization of the new migrant enclave."

The rally agreed with the authorities in July 2024 gathered about 250 protesters. Pyanzin spoke at the rally, saying that "belonging to the nation and not to be a nationalist is like having a family and not to be a family man." A month later, both her and Yushkov were summoned for interrogation to the EE center, but this did not affect their activity.

In response, the head of the Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, instructed to conduct a check on the fact of protests. In the same month, when the action took place, he first requested a report from his subordinates, and in this February he demanded a report on the progress of the investigation. At the time of publication of the material, the official results of the audit are still not published.

In February, the situation worsened even more: opponents of the construction of the mosque blinded snowmen and dressed them in Nizaby. Next to them, they placed banners with nationalist slogans. The prosecutor's office considered this an inciting ethnic hatred, after which Pyanzin was called for interrogation, and then a criminal case was opened against her. Another participant received five days of arrest, and their community on the social network was blocked. However, a new one has already appeared.

As protesters explain what they want

Residents of the Upper Kurya, in addition to xenophobic reasons, put forward other arguments against the construction of the mosque. So, in a video message, they mentioned a possible increase in traffic jams on the Kama bridge and the lack of social objects for children, for which, according to them, "the authorities have no place."

In a conversation with the Novo-Europe, a local resident Elena ( name changed for security purposes ) explained her position in three points:

• A local resident considers the construction of the mosque “inappropriate”, as he believes that Muslims do not live in its area;

• Elena believes that first of all it is necessary to satisfy the needs of local residents, for example, through the construction of socially significant facilities;

• She calls the construction of the mosque "a criminal seizure of land stolen according to the resale."

Despite the frequent references to the first and last reasons in social networks, any statistics or documents that could confirm them could not be found.

“For all these reasons, I am categorically against the construction of the mosque in Upper Kurier. The authorities must return the land to the city and build what the inhabitants of the Upper Kurya are asking - a kindergarten, school or hospital. The village also needs its own firefighter, there are a lot of [explosive and fire hazardous] private development, ”Elena explains.

Another local resident named Irina agrees with her (the name changed for security purposes) :

- There is nothing in Courier. They would have thought about children. A sports club is needed. Some cafe. Kindergarten. A lot more. And the mosque here is not in place at all. The machines will not part.

"Place for the prevention of radical and extremist ideologies"

The construction of the mosque was not only the mufti of the Perm Territory and the Epiphany Monastery, but also some local residents.

The Mufti of the Perm Territory Anvar Khazrat Ablaev drew attention to the abundance of “different information”, which distorts the essence of the project. He noted that the construction of the structure has not yet begun, and some are already distributing rumors about the “migrant mosque”, trying to provoke a conflict. According to Mufti, “there is no such term and cannot be,” since all mosques in Russia are intended for believers professing traditional Islam. Ablaev emphasized that in Islam there is no place for terrorism and extremism, and the task of spiritual leaders is to instruct people on the right path. He also gave examples of the neighborhood of mosques and Orthodox churches in Perm and other cities, noting that this practice has become ordinary.

“Muslims living in the Upper Courier, regardless of how many people there are one, five or thousand - have the full legal right to build a mosque because it is protected by the laws of our multinational and multi -confessional state,” Mufti emphasized.

The New Gazeta Europe sent a request to the Mufti of the Perm Territory with a request to comment on the latest protests against the mosque, but has not yet received an answer.

Representatives of the Epiphany male monastery in Verkhnyaya Kurye said they did not participate in public debate about the construction of the mosque, but consider it necessary to express their position. The clergymen condemned the actions of the protesters, calling them "instigators."

“They make manipulations look at their fellow countrymen from the standpoint of strength, try to create militant groups. After all, the construction of the mosque is planned by the inhabitants of our city, and not visiting migrants, but family people who grew up and raised in Perm, ”the monastery’s representatives, adding that there can be no“ people of the first and second -grade ”will include“ parish dozens ”.

In the comments on the VKontakte post, some parishioners accused the clergy of "bending" and called for "not to confuse tolerance with self -abundance." Several kuryians openly opposed the aggravation of the conflict.

“I also see nothing terrible in the mosque, on the contrary, this will reveal the path to faith, and not to Wahhabism and extremist cells. Who believes that there will be some kind of criminogenic region-still strange people. See how people live in Dagestan, who survived the attack. What police officers defended believers? Orthodox? No, Muslims.

And this once again proves that our country is one of its values ​​and principles, even let us have a different faith, ” wrote a local resident Anna.

She noted that the construction of the mosque does not detract from the values ​​of her Orthodox faith, and added: “Muslims are the same people as we, they also have families and children.”