2015 outcomes in SFD: change in administration, pressure on activists, and truckers' protests

Change of the ruling elite in Kuban, pressure on Circassian activists in Adygea, resonant sentences against activists in the Rostov Region, explosion in a multi-storey building in Volgograd, hunger strike of transport workers in Astrakhan, start of the struggle for a new Constitution of the Republic of Kalmykia, protests by truck drivers against the system "Platon", these and other events occurred in 2015 in the Southern Federal District (SFD) of Russia.

Krasnodar Territory: Alexander Tkachov's resignation, construction of Kerch Strait Bridge, release of Evgeny Vitishko

Changes in administration

In 2015, the main political event in Kuban was the resignation of Governor Alexander Tkachov and the election of Veniamin Kondratiev to the post. On April 22, Alexander Tkachov filed a letter of resignation, and on the same day, he was appointed the head of the Russian Ministry of Agriculture in order to, according to the official version, strengthen it. Veniamin Kondratiev was appointed Acting Governor. Political analysts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" associate the personnel changes in Kuban with the Kremlin's desire to prevent embezzlement by local officials of the funds allocated for the construction of the Kerch Strait Bridge.

At the direct election of the Governor of the Krasnodar Territory, the first one during the past eleven years, Veniamin Kondratiev won by gaining 83.65% of votes. According to the experts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot", no actual election campaign took place in the Krasnodar Territory.

Start of works on construction of Kerch Strait Bridge

One of the important events of 2015 has become the launch of construction of the KerchStraitBridge between Kuban and Crimea. After Crimea joined Russia, people faced the problem of transport communication with the peninsula. At present, people and cargos are transported between Taman (the KrasnodarTerritory) and the CrimeanPeninsula by means of the Kerch ferry.

On April 16, 2015, the construction process of the technological bridge was launched. It is expected to help in the construction of the main bridge to connect Crimea and Kuban. On October 1, the technological bridge was opened to traffic.

Release of ecologist Evgeny Vitishko

On December 22, Evgeny Vitishko, a member of the "Ecological Watch for Northern Caucasus" (EcoWatch), was released from a penal colony in the Tambov Region. On November 10, the Kirsanov District Court of the Tambov Region pronounced the decision to replace the unserved part of the Evgeny Vitishko's sentence with restriction of liberty. The Prosecutor's Office has challenged the decision; however, the Tambov   Regional Court has left it unchanged. The activist is to serve the unserved part of his sentence in the Tuapse District of Kuban.

Adygea: pressure on Circassian activists

Split in International Circassian Association (IAC) and resignation of Adam Bogus

On November 24, Turkish Air Forces fighter jets attacked a bomber aircraft from the Russian air group in Syria, and the Russian-Turkish relations deteriorated. In Adygea, Circassian activists have reported on the threats of suspension of humanitarian projects and pressure on compatriots returning home.

On December 26, the Council of the "Adyge Khase" of Adygea accepted the resignation of Adam Bogus, the chairman of the organization. Adam Bogus explained his resignation by "systemic pressure" on him from the authorities.

Rostov Region: prosecution of activists and resonant trials against officials

Sentences against Loshkarev and Reznik

On May 8, inNovocherkassk, activist Sergey Loshkarev was sentenced to two years of imprisonment in a penal colony. He is well-known for the criticism of the Russian authorities' policy towards Ukraine and the publication of videos on YouTube about the situation in the grove "Red Spring", where trees were cut down for the construction purposes while local residents protested against that. The court found Sergey Loshkarev guilty of illegal arms trafficking. The Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" has recognized Sergey Loshkarev as a political prisoner.

On January 22, in Rostov-on-Don, journalist and blogger Sergey Reznik was sentenced to three years of imprisonment on the charges of false accusation and abuse of public agents. In his publications, Sergey Reznik criticized Rostov Governor Vasily Golubev. Colleagues of Sergey Reznik treat his sentence as a political reprisal against the journalist.

Trial against Bessonov and case on corruption in GIBDD

In February, with the consent of the State Duma, the criminal case against Vladimir Bessonov, an MP from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF), who was accused of using violence against policemen at a rally in Rostov-on-Don, was sent to the court. Vladimir Bessonov pleads not guilty. He has declared his willingness not to hide from investigators; however, he repeatedly failed to appear at court hearings, and after that the court pronounced the decision on his arrest in absentia.

In September, Sergey Morgachev, the chief of the GIBDD (road police) Department for the Rostov Region, became involved as a suspect in the criminal case of corruption in the course of the improvement of the GIBDD building. The criminal case was opened following the results of the verification of the information from the video record "Confession of a GIBDD officer".

Volgograd Region: explosion of multi-storey building, truckers' protests

Explosion in nine-storey building in Volgograd

On December 20, inVolgograd, an explosion occurred in No. 47 in Cosmonauts Street. As a result, the block of the building from the second to the ninth floor had collapsed. 12 people were hospitalized after the incident, and bodies of five victims were found while rescue team was clearing the ruins. More than 250 residents were deprived of shelter. Experts recognized the building as dilapidated and a subject to demolition.

Truckers protest against system "Platon"

In 2015, truck drivers from several regions of Russiaorganized mass protest actions against the system "Platon", introduced on November 15 to collect tolls from trucks for the use of the roads of federal significance. In the Volgograd Region, owners and drivers of heavy vehicles took active part in the protest actions. The participants of the strike left for Moscow to continue their protests there, and some of them held protest actions in the Volgograd Region.

Truck drivers from other regions of the SFD, including the Astrakhan and Rostov Regions and the KrasnodarTerritory also joined the protest actions against the system "Platon".

At the end of the year, the truck drivers' protests started to decline. On the one hand, it is explained by concessions made by the Russian authorities, including mitigation of the requirements for drivers of heavy vehicles and reduction of amounts of fines, and on the other hand, by the fact that drivers cannot stay without a job for a long period of time. This was explained by political analysts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot".

Investigation into case against leader of Volgograd Communists completed

On December 30, 2015, it was reported on completion of the preliminary investigation into the criminal case against Nikolai Parshin, a deputy of the Russian State Duma of the Volgograd Region, the leader of the faction of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF). The case includes the materials concerning the fraud with the land plot and the school building in the Sredneakhtubinsky District. On August 26, Nikolai Parshin was put on the federal and international wanted lists, and in Volgograd, the court pronounced the decision to take him into custody.

Nikolai Parshin has told the "Caucasian Knot" that he does not agree with the court's decision on his arrest and that he is not hiding from investigators. According to Nikolai Parshin, "soon after he had received a mandate of a deputy of the State Duma, an order for his prosecution appeared."

Astrakhan Region: hunger strike of transport workers, new leaders of Astrakhan, and failed referendum

Hunger strike in Akhtubinsk and pickets in Astrakhan

In autumn, in the Astrakhan Region, workers of the transport industry held mass protests. In mid-October, a hunger strike was announced by workers of a local motor transport company in Akhtubinsk. They demanded to repay the arrears of wages and other payments. On October 3, hunger-strikers stop their protest action after the start of debt payments, the citywide rally, and the meeting.

In October, it was reported that Astrakhan would abolish its passenger wagon depot, which employed about 1000 workers. The "RZhD" (Russian Railways Company) has explained the closure of the passenger wagon depot by "optimization of the route network." According to the service of corporate communications of the Volga Railroad (a branch of Joint-Stock Company (JSC) "RZhD"), the closure of the passenger wagon depot in Astrakhan will be followed by the increase of staff in the structural units of the "RZhD" in Saratov and Volgograd. The decision was made despite the appeals of the Governor and MPs with a request to maintain the passenger wagon depot in Astrakhan. On October 13, workers of the "Federal Passenger Company" held 12 solo pickets in Astrakhan.

Change of administration in Astrakhan and Oleg Shein's struggle for referendum

In the first quarter of 2015, changes took place in the administration of the regional centre. In March, deputies of the Astrakhan City Duma voted to appoint Oleg Polumordvinov, who held the post of the deputy chairman of the regional government, the head of the city administration. He gained 29 out of 34 votes of the deputies. In total, six candidates were nominated to the post of the head of the city administration. The number of candidates, who took part in the race, but failed to enter the stage of voting at the City Duma, included Oleg Shein, a deputy of the regional Duma, the leader of the Astrakhan branch of the "Spravedlivaya Rossiya" (Fair Russia) Party.

In 2015, for the second time, Oleg Shein, the leader of the Astrakhan branch of the "Fair Russia" Party, failed to hold the referendum "For people's election" in the Astrakhan Region. The regional election commission refused to register the initiative group for collection of signatures for a referendum and explained the refusal by an error in the application submitted by the activists allegedly incorrectly listed personal data of one of the members of the initiative group.

Kalmykia: drought, new water pipeline, and demands for new Constitution

In July, a state of emergency was introduced throughout the whole territory of Kalmykia because of the extremely hot weather. In the region, soil drought resulted in the failure of crops on the area of 33,559 hectares and destruction of natural pastures and on the area of 400,000 hectares. In Kalmykia, the damage caused by the drought exceeded 300 million roubles.

In August, it was reported on the completion of the construction of the Iki-Burulsky water pipeline to supply residents of Kalmykia with water from the underground Levokumsky water reservoir. Against the background of the extreme drought, it was an important event for the region. The construction of the group water pipeline was launched in Kalmykia in 2008, and it was carried out within the framework of the federal target programme since.

On December 12, Elista hosted "Chuulgan-Congress of Oirat-Kalmyk People". Members of the initiative group of the Congress claimed the ineffectiveness of the regional authorities. They demanded from the authorities to seek more support from the federal government and simultaneously seek to ensure the independent control. The Congress adopted a resolution, which set a number of objectives "for preservation and further development of the Oirat-Kalmyk people." The main demand of the resolution was to adopt a new Constitution of Kalmykia, since the current Constitution, according to the participants of the Congress, "failed to meet the needs" of the Kalmyk people. The participants of the Congress also offered Alexei Orlov, the leader of Kalmykia, the Kalmyk government and the People's Khural to appeal to the federal authorities with a demand to rehabilitate representatives of the Kalmyk people subjected to political repression.