Are officials rigging votes to destroy mountain forests?

Nobody thinks about forests the way our officials do! Truth be told, they are thinking about how to cut them down and make money off of them. Yesterday, we encountered genuine madness that shocked many of our comrades and readers.

So!

Yesterday, March 21, was the International Day of Forests, which is celebrated annually on that date. It was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 2012 to raise awareness of the importance of forest conservation around the world. So it’s an important day for forests, apparently.

And it just so happened that on that very day, March 21, the public discussion ended on the bill from Russia’s Ministry of Economic Development, which legalizes the CLEAR-CUTTING OF PROTECTIVE FORESTS in our country’s mountain ecosystems. Under the guise of building 260 resort facilities, they are trying to grant themselves the right to remove forests from reserves, cut down trees, and sell them! And on these cleared lands, “develop” billions of rubles through the construction of resort complexes and ski facilities.

In total, from the start of the project, they want to “develop” over 300 billion rubles!

You already know the story of the bill — officials submitted it under number #145734 in the summer of 2024 but failed to push it through because of our pressure, although they tried very hard! Then, quite recently, they QUIETLY DUPLICATED this bill under another number, #155253, and tried to pass it again while people were distracted by the original. But thanks to our allies, we found out about the new initiative and immediately raised a strong objection!

After that, right up until March 21, our people were registering on the government website where the bill was posted, submitting demands to halt it, and also voting by clicking DISLIKE. This is a visible part of true public opinion!

We gathered a few thousand people, but couldn’t gather more because the government website constantly crashes and refuses to work. People simply can’t access it! Also, to vote, you must register or log in through the state services portal, which puts off people who first can’t open the site, then see the need for a lengthy registration.

Even so, in just a few days, thousands of people stood up and said, “We are against the destruction of protective forests! No to the bill!”

NOW, THE MOST INTERESTING PART

The officials (the authors of the bill) waited until only a few hours remained before the end of the public discussion, and then began massively boosting votes. Most likely, these actions are done for money or, as our officials like to do, they corral public-sector workers — sending messages in (school, administrative, housing, etc.) chats with instructions to “go in and vote for the destruction of protective forests.” We saw exactly the same thing during the bill on logging Lake Baikal — there, unfortunate public-sector employees were herded either to rallies or to social networks all at once to post comments in support of logging on Baikal.

Then, on the evening of March 21, crowds of votes suddenly started to SUPPORT the bill that legalizes the CLEAR-CUTTING OF PROTECTIVE FORESTS. Right before our eyes, the number of votes began to climb, and in just a few hours (indicating blatantly manipulated voting) it exceeded several thousand.

Can you imagine what’s happening? These officials want so desperately to pass their bill (which is not surprising given it involves hundreds of billions of rubles) that they worked out an entire scheme for pushing this insanity forward.

• They did not close the old bill so that society would focus all its efforts on it! This was done deliberately. 

  
  

• Meanwhile, they quietly created a duplicate of the bill under another number and quietly launched public voting, hoping to push it through quickly.

  
  
• They took precautions and prepared a backup option: waiting until the end of discussion and then dumping in votes that supposedly support the destruction of protective forests.

Think about the absurdity: they’re trying to convince everyone that THOUSANDS of people consciously support destroying mountainous protective forests.

I think there’s nothing more to comment on — it’s outright lies and attempts by any means to achieve the destruction of wilderness, using the power they hold! Occupying high positions, instead of PROTECTING nature, they think about how else they can tear its living flesh apart for immediate profit.

SHAMEFUL!

I can’t call it anything else! And the whole country sees what they’re doing. 

Now, to all our comrades!

First, I sincerely thank each and every one of you who aren’t afraid to voice your opinions and defend nature! Those who patiently waited for the clunky government initiatives website to load, who registered, wrote demands, filed complaints. Those who voted against this madness!

You are the bulwark of the Russian Taiga, its only voice! If I could, I would personally hug each and every one of you, tight as can be! Know that I’m proud to have the honor to fight for Life side by side with you.

Second, what we’ve seen from officials shows only one thing — OUR WORK IS ENORMOUS, and we’re heard all along the power vertical, our demands reach all the key figures. That’s why the authors of the bill devise entire strategies to push their interests! They resort to the basest actions, including waiting until the end of voting so they can flood in votes at the very last moment.

What are we going to do next?

Now that the voting is over, they must either cancel the bill or move it forward. We can still block it at various stages of review, but we must not give up and keep taking action, even if it seems everything is lost!

We have strong allies, including people in the Ministry of Natural Resources, many supporters in Rosleskhoz. We’re backed in the State Duma and the Federation Council. Really, if we don’t give in and keep fighting, there’s every chance to defeat this insane bill, so that mountain forests might preserve their last refuges from humankind.

Furthermore, if proven, the authors’ actions fall under multiple criminal and administrative offenses. 

We’ve already prepared an official statement together with our lawyers! The statement has been sent to the Investigative Committee of Russia and the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation. We need a thorough investigation into these officials! 

You can check out our document, read the specific grounds under which the authors of the bill can be charged. You can also join in and file your own statements! 

I want to learn more!

In addition, we’ve launched public initiatives against both bills (technically one, but under different numbers). If you haven’t done so yet, now is the time to send complaints to key government figures, demanding the bill be stopped!

You can also still visit the page of the new bill and submit complaints to the responsible persons listed there.

• Submit a complaint against the first bill
• Submit a complaint against the second bill
• Learn more about the bill and file a complaint

I’m ashamed that such bills appear at all in my beloved country! And ashamed that citizens have to TEACH officials to love their homeland, as well as chase after them to prevent all sorts of malice. Shameful!

© PAVEL PASHKOV