Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Goodbye, Valentina
Matvienko will not be missed by most. Her apparent indifference to the city's archi-
tectural heritage and inability to have snow and icicles cleared - no laughing matter in
a city with extreme weather patterns, where falling icicles kill and injure many people
each year - led to low opinion-poll ratings and unusual amounts of public anger.
While she was certainly a formidable force representing the city and could be both
wily and charming, her authoritarian style and inability to brook criticism united a
disparate opposition. Public demonstrations against her policies became the norm in
the last years of her rule.
For the opposition, Matvienko's most obvious failing was her support for the Okhta
scraper development that was to be built in the city centre. The former governor's un-
wavering support for the scheme caused her to lose a lot of political capital - and all
for nothing, when she finally bowed to a large local protest movement and pressure
from Unesco, which feared the city's historic heart (a World Heritage site) would be
compromised by a 400m skyscraper being built next to it. The tower, now renamed
the Lakhta Centre, will still be built, but far from the city centre (to the relief of many
architectural preservationists).
Popular Protest
In recent years small protest movements have been causing waves in a city where
political protest remains rare. Chief among these is the Strategy 31 movement, which
meets on the 31st of each month to protest the government's disregard for article 31 of
the Russian constitution, which guarantees freedom of assembly. Ironically, the pro-
testers are routinely arrested and carted away by the police for exercising their rights.
A case of alleged police brutality during one of these protests in 2010 managed to
capture the public's imagination more than any other. Police officer Vadim Boiko,
dubbed 'Animal Cop' by the media, was filmed beating peaceful protestors and drag-
ging one woman by the hair. He is currently on trial for exceeding his authority, a rare
case of the Russian police being held to account by anyone.
Finally the gay rights movement has been forced to prominence by the violence of
the far right groups that routinely attack any form of LGBT demonstration. Sadly, the
