President Medvedev gets involved in dispute over Moscow village demolition

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev ordered the country's prosecutor general and the Kremlin administration to investigate the situation in a disputed village within the confines of Moscow, where houses of local residents are being demolished following court rulings.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev ordered the country's prosecutor general and the Kremlin administration to investigate the situation in a disputed village within the confines of Moscow, where houses of local residents are being demolished following court rulings, the president's press secretary said.

The Moscow authorities say the dwellers of the Rechnik settlement on the bank of the Moskva River illegally built their homes on the land of a specially protected city park. Demolition of houses is underway, but the residents argue they were granted the land during the Soviet era and insist that their right to live there be recognized.

"The president is aware of the situation in the Rechnik settlement... The president ordered the Prosecutor General's Office and the Kremlin administration's control department to check whether rights of citizens, who own land parcels and buildings in individual territories in the city of Moscow, are upheld," Natalya Timakova told journalists.

Some 20 houses have been already demolished in the Rechnik settlement, and 15 others are still to be demolished.

Timakova said the president "ordered to check the legality of [court] decisions on the demolition of the buildings."

The residents or their late relatives received land plots in Rechnik in western Moscow from Soviet authorities in the 1950s. They reportedly have documents confirming that they were allowed to build homes on the land, so it would be logical to assume they at least are entitled to compensation, even though current laws ban any residential construction in the area and the authorities want the buildings razed.

On Thursday, the residents of the settlement filed a suit against Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov, demanding the court order him to pay 100 billion rubles ($3.3 billion) as compensation for moral and material damage they had suffered.

Two years ago, utility services were halted to the settlement, but generators were brought in to provide electricity. Nonetheless, conditions in Rechnik are tough, and nine people have reportedly died since the blockade began.

The Moscow city administration has decreed that a 20-hectare town park will be created on the land, but residents suspect that the prime real estate will be sold to developers to create a luxury residential compound.

MOSCOW, February 5 (RIA Novosti)