“Good renovation”
The governor of Sakhalin, Valery Limarenko, was in Uglegorsk for a meeting with residents when he spoke on Telegram on Friday. He noted that the local government had not listened to the people or solved their problems, especially the pressing issue of moving families from emergency housing.
Limarenko urged that such an attitude toward residents cannot continue. He said he had already directed the regional administration to address the situation without delay.
He described Lyudmila Anikeeva, an Uglegorsk resident, and her family receiving a two-room apartment from the municipal stock. The unit is comfortable, bright, and well maintained, situated in a convenient neighborhood on Zavodskaya Street 7. The city’s mayor has signed the necessary documents, Limarenko added, and he shared a video showing the new home and its recent renovation.
The government press service confirmed to RIA Novosti that Anikeeva’s family, who previously faced eviction from an emergency housing unit after an incident involving shoes thrown at the mayor over resettlement issues, became housed within 24 hours of the complaint reaching the governor. The message noted that Uglegorsk’s administration provided shelter for a regional center resident within a day, and that Anikeeva, with her husband and 10-year-old son, was allocated a comfortable two-room apartment from the municipal housing stock at the specified Zavodskaya address.
Moldy shoes for the mayor
On the eve of the Telegram channel, Baza reported a meeting between Sakhalin’s governor and Uglegorsk’s city mayor, Dmitry Tsukanov. When Anikeeva spoke, she explained years of asking for new housing while living in an emergency unit, which had never been resolved.
The Telegram channel posted a video of a resident addressing the authorities. To demonstrate the poor condition of the dwelling, he pulled out a moldy boot and hurled it at Tsukanov. Police quickly escorted the resident to the station.
According to Baza, Uglegorsk’s administration initially offered a move to a new building, but later reversed the plan, offering a one-room apartment elsewhere without alternatives. Anikeeva declined, suspecting a bid to place her in another emergency unit. She lost a local court case but won a district court ruling requiring the city mayor to provide a comfortable two-room apartment within two months; however, progress stalled thereafter. RIA Novosti later reported that the resettlement process for the Anikeeva family had stretched since 2019, with promises of new housing for residents of the 48-unit emergency building on Krasnoarmeyskaya Street by the end of 2020 never kept.
In 2021, there were some steps toward fulfilling the promise, yet only three families accepted the offered residences. Forty-three received the redemption value instead. Anikeeva recalled that her family was offered a one-bedroom apartment in a newly flooded building, which they declined for legitimate reasons. What followed was ongoing correspondence with the city administration, court visits, the prosecutor’s office, and lawyers. Some offers from officials even seemed cynical, such as proposals for an apartment in a dilapidated 1964 building. Although a court ordered housing equivalent to a two-room apartment, the family continued living where they were.
Prosecution response
Shortly after the controversial meeting, Limarenko announced on Telegram that several other residents of the emergency building had raised concerns about the district authorities’ inaction. He said he had asked the Sakhalin region prosecutor to monitor the administration of Uglegorsk city district.
The Sakhalin District Prosecutor’s Office stated that a resident of Uglegorsk had begun to restore their right to comfortable housing as part of the emergency housing resettlement, including enforcing prior court decisions.
Intercession of the Deputy Prime Minister
Deputy Prime Minister and presidential envoy for the Far Eastern Federal District Yuri Trutnev pledged to personally oversee the Sakhalin situation. He criticized the mayor for not listening and suggested that leadership changes might be necessary if communication cannot be established. He emphasized that mayors must engage with residents rather than ignore their concerns.
According to TASS, the presidential plenipotentiary’s press service in the Far East announced that Trutnev instructed Sakhalin’s leadership to resolve the emergency resettlement issue as soon as possible.
Shoe trial
Anikeeva told RIA Novosti that the case arising from the earlier incident would proceed in the city court. She mentioned that police had prepared an administrative protocol for violating public order, which was slated for magistrate review but was moved to Uglegorsk city court. Moscow 24 quoted her lawyer, Maria Yarmush, saying the act could fall under petty hooliganism, which carries a modest fine or a brief arrest. The lawyer predicted that a magistrate would likely opt for a fine rather than a harsher penalty.
Yarmush stressed that the magistrate would probably not impose more than a fine in this case, given the circumstances.