From McClatchy News:
KHIMKI, Russia — During the summer of 2007, Yevgeniya Chirikova and her husband were strolling through the woods when they noticed a series of red paint marks on the trees around them, the sort used to trace a path for clear-cutting timber.
Chirikova went home, got on the Internet and found a document signed by the regional governor that said a new highway would be built through the Khimki forest. Incensed, the mother of two wrote letters to politicians. When she didn't hear back, she met with a journalist and began distributing fliers asking her neighbors to get involved.
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My Comment: As bad as all of this is .... and it is bad .... believe it or not it was far worse 15 years ago. When I was in Russia in 1992, my aunt was working at a car wash. Each week, they always had a car in which the trunk had to be cleaned from the blood that was in it .... each week.
Today, the violence is bad, and the corruption is horrible ..... but it was once much worse. Maybe in another 20 years, the situation will improve a little bit more .... maybe.