“Bandits have seized power in our native St. Petersburg!” How security forces persecute defenders of an architectural monument

On January 8, in St. Petersburg, the building of the All-Union Research Institute of Pulp and Paper Industry, which was defended for 7 years by city defenders and residents of the Vyborg region, was demolished. The demolition was accompanied by intense confrontation between its defenders and numerous hired guards, the detention of activists, and the initiation of a dozen administrative cases and one criminal case. The names of the defenders of the building, with whom the Window correspondent spoke, have been changed for security reasons.

“Bandits have seized power in our native St. Petersburg! They are destroying our city, demolishing architectural monuments, bringing in migrants to beat local residents, fabricating criminal cases and throwing them into prison for trying to defend their home!” – this is what they write about the demolition of the VNIIB building in the telegram channel SOS SPb SNOS .

The VNIIB building is a striking example of post-war Soviet architecture, with lush decor, a portico and columns. It was built in 1957 by architects B.N. Zhuravlev and V.A Filippova in the style of “Stalinist neoclassicism”. In 2019, Specialized Developer 2nd Murinsky LLC received permission to demolish it and erect a multi-storey residential complex. At the same time, a broad public campaign to protect the building was launched, in which VOOPIiK , “Living City”, urban protection experts and ordinary citizens participated. The court suspended the demolition permit, but KGIOP never included the building in the list of identified cultural heritage sites. In 2021, the developer announced that it would preserve the building. In 2023, the St. Petersburg City Court recognized as legal the decision of the KGIOP not to include the VNIIB building in the list of identified cultural heritage sites. But the city defenders filed a lawsuit again, and in the summer of 2024, the Kuibyshevsky court of St. Petersburg ordered the KGIOP to reconsider their application to include the building in the register of identified monuments. In February 2025, KGIOP finally included VNIIB in the list of objects that have the characteristics of a cultural heritage site, but already in September, they crossed it out from there along with the vestibules of the Elektrosila and Park Pobedy metro stations. In April 2025, GATI ( State Administrative and Technical Inspectorate - “Window” ) issued a warrant for preparatory work for demolition. On January 8, 2026, the building was demolished.

The defenders of the building have at their disposal a complaint to the police against city defenders who are interfering with the demolition of VNIIB. From this complaint it is clear that the demolition agreement was concluded back in 2022 between SK PRIDE LLC, specializing in the demolition of houses, and the developer (also the owner of the site) - Specialized Developer 2nd Murinsky LLC.

“No demolition!”

At about 7.30 am on January 8, equipment, workers and a group of hired security guards wearing masks arrived at the VNIIB building at 2nd Murinsky Prospekt, 49. At the same time, the first defenders of the building arrived there, and clashes began between them and the guards.

According to Ivan (all names of activists have been changed for their safety), who defended the VNIIB building from demolition for several years, on January 7 the following advertisements appeared on the Internet:

“We need people for the cordon tomorrow! The building is being demolished - it will be necessary to stand around the perimeter so that local residents do not enter the territory (they are against construction next to houses). The work is calm: the police, the Ministry of Emergency Situations and the ambulance will be nearby - everything is official. Tea and toilet provided. Schedule: from 8.00 to 18.00 for 5-6 days. Payment is 4,000 rubles per shift, the money will be given out the next morning.”

– This post was found in one of the public pages on Telegram on the evening of January 7th. But there was no address, and we began to discuss where it might be. Apparently they noticed our correspondence on the networks, because at 12 at night the post was edited, the address appeared: Khrustalnaya, 1. This is another building, which is also planned to be demolished,” Ivan recalls.

At night, at 15° below zero, he grabbed a taxi and rushed to Khrustalnaya Street, where he found no traces of preparations for demolition. Ivan wrote in the chat: “It looks like there’s nothing planned here, except maybe in the morning,” stayed in a night cafe until the metro opened and went home. Soon he was informed that the demolition equipment had arrived at VNIIB, and temporary fences were being installed around it. Activists and local residents began to flock there.

“Local residents, pensioners, were holding on to the fence; they were pushed, thrown back, pulled away by these freaks. I also came and broke the fence and threw people over concrete blocks. Scattered groups tried to break through the cordon in several places. I broke through the first lower fence into the inner part, stormed the second line of defense, but there were few people there and very formidable eastern “comrades”; they got more personal. I crawl back out and say: “We urgently need a crowbar to break down the concrete fence behind us.” As a result, we punched a small hole there and were able to bring a huge crowd into the yard.

The guards immediately approached the breakout site, but seeing that there were many defenders of the building, they returned to the cordon.

“My friend and I joined hands and just started running between these guards, and the police were standing around. My eastern friends grabbed me by the arms and legs. I kicked, resisted, and almost fell into the snow. But in the end we were able to run to the excavator. A bunch of other people ran after us. And we stayed there for 2-3 hours. Someone brought food. Naturally, there were all sorts of chants, “Down with criminals!”, “No demolition!”, “Demolition is illegal!” Inside there were many illegally hired unlicensed security guards and the police, who at that moment even protected us, otherwise they could have attacked us.

The most important thing, says Ivan, was to stay together, and not one at a time, somewhere in a nook - then the masked guards would immediately come up and start beating.

According to Ivan, after a while he and his friend were very cold, so they decided to climb out through the hole in the fence and go to the cafe opposite to warm up.

“We are drinking tea, and they write to me: “They have started to detain us inside the cordon.” That is, we got out on time. When they came back, it was impossible to climb over the fence, megaphones were shouting inside - disperse, do not interfere with the demolition. Those who stood and sat around the excavator began to be sent to paddy wagons. And as soon as the arrests began, the excavator started working. People were standing right under it; the debris could have buried them and killed them. And many more stood behind the fences for a long time. There is a video of how Eastern “friends” insulted them all, cursed them and offended pensioners. And when everyone was knocked out of the courtyard, three more excavators drove in and began to destroy the building before our eyes. And the crane track worked there.

Demolition began with the most spectacular central part of the building with columns. Ivan is surprised that he was not caught, although he stood right next to the excavator, “shouted louder than anyone else and recorded a bunch of videos.”

“They threw me into the snow and kicked me”

City defender Vadim has been involved in city protection for a long time, but he is amazed by what happened on January 8th.

“They demolished it very roughly, they brought in more than a hundred migrants so that they wouldn’t let the local residents in.” They were provided with forceful support by the police, who were also there for hire. Such a brutal demolition with a surge of migrants, with clashes, with fights, with the police - has not happened for a long time. Usually, when a building is illegally demolished, we call the police, and they do not respond. But so that she was on duty right in advance, so that everyone was paid without hiding, and they even boasted about it, I don’t remember that. And yet they managed to break through several chains of migrants and block the equipment. Then riot police arrived and rudely detained everyone. As a result, there were 15-16 administrative arrests and fines and one criminal case,” says Vadim.

He is referring to the case against Anton Glukhov, who has already been put under house arrest. The fate of other detainees is also known: Ilya Popov received 6 days of arrest, Artyom Senatorov, Evgeny Popov and Yuri Bagrov - 5 days each, Ivan Gubin - 3 days, Andrei Milyuk, Vladimir Kostylev and Alexander Alakhanov - one day. The four detainees - Grigory Kuzmin, Alexander Komelkov, Alexei Goryachko and Maria Voyutskaya - were fined 15 thousand rubles. Among those detained were a 75-year-old activist, a mother of many children and a veteran of the so-called “SVO”; two people asked not to mention their names publicly.

According to Vadim, among the VNIIB defenders there are many who were beaten, one arrested may have a broken arm, those who have already been released have torn jackets, broken phones that migrants snatched from their hands, and one young man who received a 15,000 ruble fine is still impossible to contact - his phone was stolen.

“Anton Glukhov was thrown into the snow by several gopniks, kicked, he pulled out a gas canister and as a result became not only beaten, but also accused in a criminal case,” says Vadim. “Such rudeness, barbarism, such spitting in the faces of the townspeople has not happened for a very long time.” When Basevich’s house was being demolished, we also broke into the territory, there were also administrative arrests, but there were only a few of us, and here there was a whole crowd. And during the demolition, stones and pieces of the wall flew straight at people, and even this did not stop the dismantlers. This is an incredibly crude, paid demolition, where absolutely everyone, the entire system of power, was corrupt. Well, there hasn’t been such opposition for a long time either - the VNIIB chat has increased by 200 people.

Vadim believes that it is necessary to seek the initiation of a criminal case regarding illegal demolition, illegal detention and persecution of activists.

– It is necessary – if we had an adequate reality – to investigate the crimes of these werewolves in uniform, affiliated with the developers, who arrived at their request. Our police are not security forces after all. You can’t call them like that and say that today we will demolish the building and we need to drive away the local residents, so we ask you to arrive at the site in advance with paddy wagons. They arrived with paddy wagons; they were obviously bought by developers. - says the activist.

“They tell grandmothers: “I am your godfather”

Seeing so many migrants brought in for demolition, one of the activists, says Vadim, had the idea to ask the nationalist Russian community for help.

– The situation is outrageous: they brought migrants, they beat old people, women who live here and are trying to protect their home. But the Russian Community said that migrants are, of course, not good, but all city defenders are provocateurs, and beating them is right and legal.

Natalya arrived at VNIIB around 10 am.

“There was a fence along the facade, groups of people stood, and near the building itself there was a “demon” ( equipment for dismantling - SR ). We stood near the tracks, one woman lay down under the arrow on the ground. An hour later, suddenly everyone ran around the building, the hired people formed a chain and pushed everyone away. The demolition began, passions ran high, people began to break the fences,” says Natalya.

The police, according to her, at first only made sure that there was no fight. When the demolition was stopped for a while, Natalya talked with some migrants.

– These were young Dagestanis, 18-30 years old, who spoke excellent Russian. Severe insults were thrown from our side. For some reason, they, and not their employers, were blamed for the destruction of St. Petersburg; one woman cursed them for about 5 minutes. Caucasian people are quick-tempered and touchy - they got worked up in response. And they responded even faster to a respectful attitude. But there were also several nervous comrades who spoke of their participation in the SVO as heroism. And they seem to have a continuation here.

From a city protection chat: “I believe that the developer’s PR side instructed in advance how to marginalize any attempts by the townspeople to defend themselves, even at the narrative level... Meanwhile, behind the ostentatious search for enemies of the friendship of peoples, the crime itself is lost.”

Natalya recalls that standing near the tracks of the “demon” and under the arrow was quite scary.

– Two people climbed onto the house to prevent it from being broken. Journalists and television arrived. It was already dusk. I was very cold and numb. They gave me warm mittens, it was very touching.

Natalya and her friend went to the bakery for 40 minutes to warm up.

“When we returned, everyone had already been detained, another “demon” drove into the yard, and they continued to destroy the wall.

Another activist, Elena, came to the VNIIB building every Saturday for several years in a row for weekly meetings to protect it.

“At some point it seemed that we managed to defend it. And completely unexpectedly the news of the demolition came. I assess the actions of the defenders as very competent - drawing up petitions, consulting with lawyers, appealing to various authorities. It’s a shame - the building is of late Stalinist architecture, beautiful, original, the layout is reminiscent of country palaces. It adorned our area - powerful, luxurious and completely strong, without signs of destruction. There were wonderful interiors, a huge hall with columns. And many children's clubs. And now expensive apartments will be built there, that’s the only goal.

Activists were most outraged by the actions of the security forces.

“Instead of checking the documents of people wearing masks, they began to detain active city defenders. – says the building’s defender Dmitry . “I myself saw a man in civilian clothes who showed exactly who to detain. At first the police didn’t want to detain me, but then someone in plain clothes poked me: “Here, take him.” I think that these instructions were given by representatives of the so-called Center “E” for the fight against extremism.

Dmitry notes that the police department talked to them “like some kind of criminals” and did not allow lawyers in, citing the “Fortress” plan.

“We were given food only before leaving for court.” If it weren’t for the messages from sympathizers, it’s unclear what we would have eaten there, although according to the law, detainees must be fed. I really like the unity that VNIIB had on the 8th, where people of different political views came. There you could meet liberals, communists, and even some nationalists; they are not pro-government, but like that - on their own. Everyone wanted to preserve the building, regardless of views and beliefs. It was unity that helped us - when they knocked one person to the ground, others immediately picked him up so that he would not be trampled by people in masks. Such consolidation in extreme conditions is very important, otherwise everyone would have been dispersed much earlier.

"Demons will have their eyes on our home"

Dmitry believes that “if such chaos occurs,” we need to go outside.

– Because the enemy only understands force, I saw the fear on the faces of the representatives of the Pride company, which is engaged in demolition, because the people were able to stop the demolition at least for some time. I believe that all means are good for protection, and dividing city defenders into good and bad, as some try, is unacceptable.

Now city defenders are deciding what to do next.

During the demolition of VNIIB, they sent hundreds of appeals to the Russian Investigative Committee, but there was no response. On January 9, the Chairman of the Investigative Committee of Russia, Alexander Bastrykin, nevertheless requested a report on information about the demolition of a building in St. Petersburg.

“What should we, St. Petersburg residents, do in such a situation, when demons have their eyes on our house, our yard, our garden? Gather strength. Strength to defend your city and your homes!! Since we can only rely on each other,” says the city protection telegram channel SOS St. Petersburg SNOS, “renovation of the central districts of St. Petersburg is on the verge - since the entire legislative framework has already been adopted at the federal and partly at the regional levels. From an apartment on the Petrograd side to Shushary: a real prospect. If we do not prepare for civil resistance to the lawlessness of demons today, tomorrow it will be too late!”

The “Old Petersburg” society made an appeal to the governor of St. Petersburg.

“We believe that the city government’s refusal to practice open dialogue with the urban protection community and the use of exclusively police methods to resolve the conflict around the VNIIB building leads to its aggravation and politicization. In addition, the mechanism used by the demolition initiator of using hired “security guards” to forcefully oppose local residents and city defenders provokes the incitement of interethnic hatred. The big question about the actions of the police and riot police: for what reason were the defenders of the building detained, and not the people who attacked them? The situation when law enforcement agencies, instead of fulfilling their direct duty to protect citizens, take the side of those who attacked the defenders of law and justice, undermines the foundations of law and order and is an extremely dangerous precedent,” the appeal says.

Its authors demand to resolve the issue of restoring the VNIIB building to its original form, to punish all “those involved in violating legislation in the field of preserving cultural heritage sites and the rights of citizens,” to “cancel the unlawful prosecution of citizens who fulfilled their constitutional duties to protect heritage,” and to urgently organize a dialogue between developers and urban defenders to “prevent the recurrence of such situations.”

The editors of Okna sent inquiries regarding the illegal demolition of the VNIIB building to the companies Specialized Developer 2nd Murinsky LLC and SK PRIDE LLC, which demolished the building. No answer yet.