A conflict over the construction of a road through Losiny Ostrov National Park is continuing in the Moscow region. Environmental defenders are opposing forest clearing linked to a project that officials describe as a “capital repair” of an existing dirt road between Korolyov and Mytishchi. Activists argue that this wording is being used to bypass environmental restrictions.
On November 9, 2025, a confrontation with police took place near the construction site. After the protest, Mikhail Rogov, Oleg Kapusta, and Benes Ayo were detained. They were accused of disobeying police orders: Ayo was fined 3,000 rubles, Rogov was sentenced to eight days of detention, and Kapusta to seven days. The movement later said on Telegram that the activists were beaten during the arrests.
The anti-road group, created on Telegram on December 15, 2023, has sought publicity from the outset and filed complaints with oversight bodies. According to an activist identified as Anna, whose name was changed, the community includes not only nearby residents but also people from different parts of Moscow and the surrounding region concerned about the forest.
“The administration hides behind the term capital repair, but in reality they are removing topsoil, digging deep trenches, plowing up the land, and cutting down trees,” Anna says.
Activists cite park regulations approved by Russia’s Natural Resources Ministry in 2012, which ban the construction, reconstruction, repair, and operation of major roads in the park. They also say the disputed road is not listed in the unified state road register and that the contract documents contain contradictions: the road is described as a category five road, while the project предусматривает two lanes of traffic.
Another major complaint concerns the felling of 151 trees. Campaigners say the Korolyov administration had no authority to authorize such work in a specially protected natural area. They also maintain that no mandatory environmental review was conducted, despite federal legal requirements.
This was not the first pressure on those opposing the project. On July 31, 2025, five activists, including Rogov and Kapusta, were detained under the same disobedience article; a court in Mytishchi then fined each of them 2,000 rubles, though the Moscow regional court later overturned the rulings against Irina Yelagina and Irina Kuriseva. After the latest arrests, participants in the campaign say they do not plan to stop protesting.