Southern Russia protests against mining nickel near Khopyor River

Today, the cities of the South Federal District (SFD) and the North-Caucasian Federal District (NCFD) of the Russian Federation have held actions of nationwide solidarity for the preservation of the Central Black Earth Economic Region and against the decision on mining of nickel in the Khopyor River area.

Let us remind you that in May 2012, the auction for the development of nickel deposits in the Novokhopyor District of the Voronezh Region was won by Limited Liability Company (LLC) "Mednogorsky Copper Sulphate Plant", a part of the "UMMC-Holding". The plans for the development of nickel deposits caused widespread protests of residents of the Volgograd and Voronezh Regions.

Today, pickets of nationwide solidarity in support of the Khopyor River area have been held in Vladikavkaz, Uryupinsk, Krasnodar, Volgograd, and Derbent.

In Krasnodar, two activists, who carried solo pickets, were detained an hour after the rally by the police. This was reported by the group "Mining of nickel is a threat to the Central Black Earth Economic Region and the Khopyor River area" in the social network "VKontakte".

In total, activists of 40 cities and regions of Russia have attended today’s action against the plans for mining nickel in the Central Black Earth Economic Region near the Khopyor Reserve, the "Facebook" page "Movement for Defence of the Khopyor River" reports.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.