On May 14, thousands of residents of Moscow went into the streets to protest a project that entails the demolition of as many as 8,000 Soviet-era apartment buildings, now privately owned, to make space for an upscale residential development. The rally took place on Sakharov Prospect, named after the Soviet dissident and scientist Andrei Sakharov.

Moscow’s mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, did not attend. Mr. Sobyanin, a former chief of staff for President Vladimir V. Putin, is the author of draft legislation behind the scheme, which would uproot 1.6 million Muscovites, could increase the density of redeveloped areas by as much as threefold, and would cost an estimated $61 billion. One who did attend was Aleksei Navalny, the founder of the Anti-Corruption Foundation. The de facto leader of the Russian opposition, who had recently undergone eye surgery after a toxic dye was hurled at his face by an unidentified assailant, Mr. Navalny was led away by the police before he could speak.

Read more on: www.emirates247.com