The overnight demolition of 104 street kiosks in Moscow last month was terrifying. On 8 February, across the city, the city authorities pulled down buildings simultaneously with the assistance of the police. They didn’t even allow vendors to remove their goods. At several locations, municipal employees began to demolish buildings with traders still inside — these people had locked themselves inside to protect their businesses or place of work with their own bodies. In one video, you can watch as a crowd pleads with a police officer to get people out, even by force. As the bulldozer destroys the shop’s front door, the officer just shrugs his shoulders as if to say: “I’ve told them what’s going to happen, but they’re not coming out”.
The “Night of the long scoops” was a punishment operation —demonstrative and chilling. Fortunately, no one was hurt. But in the morning, when the sun came up, we were greeted with a terrible sight.
Mysterious amendment
The Moscow authorities’ official position is as follows: first, the buildings were illegal constructions, built without permission, and second, the shops were erected in protected areas of transport and utilities infrastructure (and thus present certain risks). The head of the Moscow Metro Dmitry Pegov even went so far as to suggest the kiosks present a potential terrorist threat — after all, you could leave something dangerous in them.
