The Khimki Forest Controversy

Khimki forest defenders at their camp on the site of the felling on July 15.

Russian police detain a Khimki activist for attempting to reach the site of the deforestation on August 2.

Surrounded by police officers, activist gather to protest against the destruction of the Khimki Forest on August 2.

Russian rock singer Yuri Shevchuk attended a rally on Pushkin Square in Moscow on August 22 to protest the Khimki highway plan.

Some 2,000 people crammed into the square amid a heavy police presence.

Noted human rights activist Ludmila Alekseeva was also in attendance.

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.

A policeman guards the site of the planned highway in late August.

Activist Yevgenia Chirikova in the Khimki forest on August 30. She heads EcoDefense, the ecological group spearheading the Khimki protests.

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.

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.

Khimki activist Konstantin Fetisov remains in a coma after being attacked by unknown assailants on November 4.