A Russian government committee has approved the construction of a new Moscow-St. Petersburg highway passing through Khimki Forest.
The Khimki Forest Controversy
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Khimki forest defenders at their camp on the site of the felling on July 15.
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Russian police detain a Khimki activist for attempting to reach the site of the deforestation on August 2.
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Surrounded by police officers, activist gather to protest against the destruction of the Khimki Forest on August 2.
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Russian rock singer Yuri Shevchuk attended a rally on Pushkin Square in Moscow on August 22 to protest the Khimki highway plan.
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Some 2,000 people crammed into the square amid a heavy police presence.
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Noted human rights activist Ludmila Alekseeva was also in attendance.
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An idle tractor sits amidst felled trees on the site of the planned highway on August 27. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev had ordered a halt to construction.
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A policeman guards the site of the planned highway in late August.
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Activist Yevgenia Chirikova in the Khimki forest on August 30. She heads EcoDefense, the ecological group spearheading the Khimki protests.
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Mikhail Beketov was editor in chief of a local Khimki newspaper and had written extensively about the controversy. He was savagely beaten outside his home in 2008.
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Oleg Kashin, a correspondent for "Kommersant," was attacked outside his Moscow home on November 6. The attack left him with broken legs and skull damage.
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Khimki activist Konstantin Fetisov remains in a coma after being attacked by unknown assailants on November 4.