Russia: Protests in Gaizhevo
Residents of the village of Gaizhevo in Karelia have been seeking road repairs and an emergency bridge for several years. Due to problems with the crossing, a woman with a stroke was taken to an ambulance by sled, and firefighters could not reach the village in time. Before the elections this September, Gennady Kokkov, a candidate for deputy from United Russia, promised to help the residents - and indeed brought gravel and hired a tractor driver. But, having lost, he stopped helping. "If I had been elected, of course, I would have continued the work. But since I wasn't elected, let the new deputy deal with it," he explained. In response, the villagers decided to continue the repairs themselves: they collected money, rented equipment again, and went out to patch holes in the roadway. Kokkov himself and a local resident told "Veter" how this happened. The material was first published on the website of the project "Veter". Residents of the Karelian village of Gaizhevo are collecting money themselves and repairing the road on which they get to their homes every day. They buy gravel and sand, rent a tractor, and transport and unload some of the materials manually in cars, trailers, and even buckets. The road, about a kilometer and a half long, has been in poor condition for more than one year. It is difficult for heavy equipment to reach the village due to the bridge being in an emergency state. According to residents, this also makes access difficult for emergency services. For example, local resident Elena Fyodorova, whose family owns a house in Gaizhevo, told "Veter" how in August 2024 firefighters could not reach the village in time. As a result, two houses burned down. In October 2023, Fyodorova recalls, a resident of the village had a stroke. An ambulance could not get to the house: the bridge was closed, and the lock on it was frozen. Paramedics had to transport the woman by sled. Then a local resident helped take her to the ambulance by car. After the incident, the Prosecutor's Office of Karelia conducted an inspection, and the Investigative Committee, at the request of the head of the department, Alexander Bastrykin, initiated a criminal case. Local authorities then reported the start of bridge repairs. A new attempt to repair the road began before the September elections. At that time, Gennady Kokkov, a candidate for deputy of the Legislative Assembly from United Russia, who worked in the village in the late 1980s, came to Gaizhevo and met with residents. The politician himself told "Veter" that he did not promise to fully repair the road. Kokkov says that he offered to help the residents with firewood, as he worked in the timber industry and knew that there were problems with this in the village. However, later, according to him, he decided to help with the road at his own expense. "I cannot promise to build [the road] at my own expense. I invested 86 thousand at my own expense. I bought a carload of gravel, brought 20 tons to the bridge. Hired a tractor after a long search, a small excavator. The man agreed - three thousand an hour," Kokkov claims. According to Kokkov, together with the tractor driver, they inspected the road and determined the scope of work. In the elections, Kokkov, however, lost to Andrey Monastyrshin - a deputy of the Legislative Assembly of Karelia from the Communist Party. For the first time, Monastyrshin was elected to the regional parliament in the Northern district in 2021, and in the elections in September 2026, he was re-elected for another five years. Photo: community of Gaizhevo residents in VK After the voting results, Kokkov decided not to pay for repairs anymore: "I was just leaving for Petrozavodsk on business. I said, well, I've run out of money, they elected another deputy - let him deal with it now. That's the whole story. And why should I maintain a municipal road? I am an ordinary citizen, just like everyone else. I promised them help, I helped. What claims do you have against me?" he stated. Kokkov told "Pod"yom" that the head of the municipality allegedly promised him 200 thousand rubles for the road, but refused to allocate them after the elections. Kokkov himself confirmed the alleged financing, but did not name the amount in a conversation with "Veter." The same version of events was told to "Veter" by local resident Elena Fyodorova, but "Veter" could not independently and documentarily confirm this information. After the elections: "People are just promised and nothing is done" After that, the residents decided to continue the work themselves: they began to collect donations in the local public page "We are from... Gaizhevo", order gravel and hired a tractor again. According to locals, people from other villages also transfer money. Fyodorova confirms that candidate for deputy Gennady Kokkov did help the residents at his own expense - he paid for the tractor work and brought gravel (this is also confirmed by posts in the local public page). At the same time, according to Fyodorova, the residents did not expect Kokkov to continue to pay for the road repairs himself after the elections. "Something is always done before the elections. The bridge was supposed to be repaired before the elections - they also forgot about it after the elections. People are just promised and nothing is done," she said. In this, Kokkov does not entirely agree with the residents, he tells "Veter": "If I had been elected, of course, I would have continued the work. But since I wasn't elected, let the new deputy deal with it. If I had won, the administration would have allocated money to me, I would have continued the repairs. Let the new deputy work with the administration now," he claims. As Elena Fyodorova stated, the main complaints of the residents are addressed to the local administration. Fyodorova does not place her hopes on the elected deputy Andrey Monastyrshin. According to her, residents have repeatedly contacted him, but have not received a response: "It's useless." Photo: community of Gaizhevo residents in VK She calls the main outcome of the story the "consolidation" of the residents of Gaizhevo: "When everyone started repairing the road together, we had some spark in our souls: we will still do it, we will reach the goal, together we can do it. They don't give up. It seems to me that people rely on themselves here, and not on the administration." When asked by "Veter" if the residents of Gaizhevo knew in advance that Kokkov would stop helping them if he lost the election, he did not answer directly: "Girl, you are detached from life. Do you understand, a person came from outside, right? And why should I repair a municipal road? Explain to me. I was asked for help - I helped. That's all. What does it have to do with elections, no elections... I'm not a millionaire to repair roads for two or three million," he said. Photo: community of Gaizhevo residents in VK "Veter" also asked Kokkov if he considered his actions to be punishing the residents of Gaizhevo for the voting results. He, in turn, emphasized that he was not going to pay for the repairs in full: "What punishment? In any case, I wouldn't have built it at my own expense anymore. The administration must allocate money. The residents made their choice. These are not my grievances, I am not offended, why? Let them live with him [Deputy Andrey Monastyrshin, who won the election] for the next five years. I know for sure that nothing will change."
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