The whole world against Zhilischnik: how Muscovites returned the fence stolen on Shabolovka

Lyudmila Butuzova

578 cast iron supports and sections were prepared for scrapping. Such scrap on forging sites costs about 40 million rubles.

We are talking about a cast-iron fence, which was located along Shabolovka from the Shabolovskaya metro station to the intersection with Serpukhovsky Val. This is an unusual fence with a half-century history. Artistic casting was performed in 1955-1957 as part of the reconstruction of the street for the Sixth World Festival of Youth and Students. Then it was decided to decorate one of the oldest streets in Moscow in the same style as Moscow boulevards, which were distinguished by tiled paving and cast-iron framing. This is how the street of the 18th century, in addition to the Shukhov tower, acquired one more business card.

In April 2019, a barbaric assassination attempt was made on the famous fence. Employees of the Zhilischnikov Donskoy and Danilovskiy districts suddenly and simultaneously from both sides of the Shabolovka separating these districts, using crowbars, began to dismantle it.

The first to discover attempts to destroy the fence was a Moscow activist, lawyer Klim Likhachyov.

- I, without leaving the place, reported the incident to the regional chats, he says. - Olga Kravchenko, a resident of the Danilovsky district, joined the defense of the fence. Together we suspended work and called the district police departments. They wrote statements about the possible commission of a crime, since the workers could not explain the reasons for dismantling the fence, they did not have work orders, orders from the leadership and the district administration. For some time, it was possible to suspend the dismantling, but the next day, by an increased number of brigades, the fence was removed almost along the entire street. An initiative group of residents organized a mass mailing of letters to the prefecture demanding the return of the fence. There was no need to beg anyone. People were so outraged by the vandalism that they themselves wrote everywhere. A meeting was held with the head of the Donskoy District Council with a similar demand. He stated that he did not know about what was happening and ordered the employees of the GBU to restore the fence along the even side of Shabolovka, belonging to the territory of the Don region. But the head of the Danilov Council, Konyukhova, refused to return the fence under the pretext of its dilapidation. Thus began the campaign for the return of the historical appearance of our beloved street with endless prosecutorial and police checks.

With the help of the Simonovskaya Prosecutor's Office, which involved police officers from the Donskoy and Danilovskiy districts in the inspection, the activists wanted to find out what caused the emergency dismantling of the fence and how to qualify the actions of the workers: “arbitrariness” according to the administrative structure or criminal as “embezzlement”?

The first police checks were formal. According to the Danilovskiy OMVD: no violations were found, the words of an employee of Zhilischnik of the Danilovskiy District were enough, who said that the dismantling of the fence was carried out by order of Moscow Mayor Sobyanin, and, accordingly, there are no criminal or administrative structures. People were amazed that the checking policeman did not bother to find out the details of the regulatory document and immediately refused to initiate a criminal case. Policemen of the Donskoy district reported that the reason for the dismantling was allegedly numerous complaints from residents about the portal "Our City" about the improper aesthetic state of the fence. Also, in their decision on the refusal to initiate a criminal case, they referred to some kind of examination, allegedly confirming the impossibility of restoring the cast-iron fence.

“This very examination was not included in the materials of the police check”, - says Klim Likhachyov. - As a lawyer, I perfectly understood why she was not there. Colleagues simply did not want to figure it out and hoped that the residents would have enough reference to some experts who sentenced our pot to death. I had to demand the expertise from the contractor myself. It turned out that the cast iron fence was not the subject of research. It was about simple cheap metal yard fences, which were installed in every yard before, but were not durable and rusted the next year after installation. Soon replies came from the district councils and the prefecture. The official version was agreed between them - "the fence was dismantled in connection with the work on lowering the lawn, but will be returned after the completion of the work".

In July 2019, work on lowering the lawns in the Donskoy and Danilovsky districts was completed almost simultaneously, but no one began to restore the fence. Then, in October 2019, the second stage of legal work began - appealing against decisions to refuse to initiate criminal cases, indicating specific violations by the police. The prosecutor's office agreed with Likhachyov's arguments, the materials were returned to the police for a more thorough check. The municipal deputies of the Danilovsky district joined the search for the fence. Thanks to the inquiries of Moundep Anna Desyatova in November 2019, it became known that the Danilovsky District Government would not return the fence "in connection with public discussions on this issue". After studying the materials received from the council, it became clear that they were fictitious for numerous reasons: neither the deputies nor the citizens knew about the so-called "discussions", information about their holding was not posted on the websites of the municipality, council. Residents of Shabolovka did not participate in the survey, the question to be clarified was distorted, there were no signatures, addresses of survey participants, the date of the survey...

The third stage of work has begun. Again, a reception at the prosecutor's office, but only a new subject for verification was added - the results of fictitious public hearings. In March 2020, an unexpected response came. Finally, the prosecutor's office questioned the head of the Danilovsky District Council, Konyukhova, who explained that the fence was not returned by her order, it turned out that she acted within the framework of the Moscow Government decree "On the procedure for installing separate enclosing structures on the territory of Moscow" No. 900-PP. And if so, then the public discussions themselves did not affect the decision of the head of the council, and therefore there was no reason to check the legality of their organization and conduct.

Soon there was a response based on the results of an inspection by the Danilov OMVD. It was established that the cast-iron fence is located on the territory of the garage of the State Budgetary Institution Zhilischnik of the Danilovsky district of Moscow, located at the address: Moscow, 4th Roshinsky prospect, ow. 24. 289 sections and 289 cast-iron posts are stored under the canopy on the spans - "everything is legal, everything is in storage, which means there is no theft".

"I showed myself to be the most complete bore, - says Klim Likhachyov, - but, in principle, this is how you need to act if you want to achieve a result - in this case - to return the fence to its place, and not be glad that the authorities, though lying, are all I have not yet had time to let our story go for scrap. The head of the Danilovskaya council, trying to get out, referred to Decree No. 900-PP. I checked it. The ordinance applies to the installation of new fences in places where there were none before, but has nothing to do with fences that have existed for more than 50 years".

The decision of the head of the council had to be appealed. The initiative group also stated that if the demand of residents to return the fence to its place is not fulfilled, the inter-district gathering of citizens will demand the resignation of all those who lie.

The epic with the fence was resolved in the most unexpected way. Moscow City Duma deputy Lyubov Nikitina intervened and supported the residents of the Danilovsky district.

- Klim Likhachyov asked for a meeting with the residents, but since there are restrictions on meeting with people, I said that I would first look at the documents and figure out this issue, - deputy Nikitina told NI. - Then I contacted the prefect of the Southern Administrative District Alexei Chelyshev and asked for clarification. A week passed, the prefect himself called me and said that he had decided to return the fence. He said that she had not gone anywhere, was in the warehouse of the Zhilishchnik State Budgetary Institution and was in need of repair, and that was why she was removed and replaced with a new one. But since people insist, he will return the fence and try to make some repairs on his own. I do not live in the Danilovsky district. But I got used to being attentive to the requests of citizens. I also try to help my comrades who solve people's problems and do not think about their own benefits. Klim turned to me, because I am the only deputy from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation in the South Administrative District. It is not always possible to help, but you must always try. And the prefect followed the logic of a Soviet official: the authorities wanted the best, but people had a different opinion. He listened to this opinion.

The comment was sent by Novye Izvestia and the first deputy. prefect Lyudmila Kontsevaya: “We consider it important to preserve the fence. This is the historical appearance of the district, which has been forming for more than a decade, and it means a lot to Muscovites who live here to this day and tell their children and grandchildren about this beautiful boulevard. Work on the restoration of the fence is already underway, we will try to complete them in a short time and in full..."

“It’s hard for me to say what exactly influenced the decision to restore the fence”, - Moscow activist Klim Likhachyov told Novye Izvestia. which put an end to this campaign. It doesn't matter, the main thing is that the fence returns to its historical place and everyone will definitely benefit from this.