In St. Petersburg, the official responsible for the protection of historical buildings was detained

The detention of Sergei Makarov, who led the city protection structure for eight years, was reported by the publication Delovoy Peterburg. He is suspected of exceeding his authority (Article 286 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). According to investigators, Makarov allowed the demolition of the building of the arena of the Life Guards of the Finnish Regiment on Vasilyevsky Island. The decision to demolish was based on the opinion provided by the developer that the original building was rebuilt in the 1960s and has no value. Residents of the city and social activists actively protested against the demolition, a lawsuit was filed, but the building was nevertheless demolished.

The committee's press service said that Makarov was not detained, but was "cooperating with the investigation".

"The chairman of the committee, within the framework of his powers, cooperates with the investigation and provides objective information on criminal cases initiated earlier by the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, which are currently under investigation", - the committee said.

As Novye Izvestiya previously reported, several criminal cases have been initiated in St. Petersburg related to cultural heritage and attempts to demolish historical buildings. The head of the Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, personally drew attention to the situation. One of the latest cases is the demolition of Saltykova's house in the center of St. Petersburg. A criminal case has also been initiated on this fact. In addition, the employees of the company, who carried out the demolition of the outbuildings of the house, beat the city defender Oleg Mukhin. A criminal case was also initiated on this fact.