RASSVET, Russia -- Inhabitants of the village of Rassvet in the Russian republic of Bashkortostan are boycotting the national census to protest a lack of available drinking water, RFE/RL's Tatar-Bashkir Service reports.
The village, which has some 1,000 inhabitants, is 200 kilometers away from Ufa, the republican capital.
Villages told RFE/RL on condition of anonymity that public officials closed the spring that served as the village's only source of water on the grounds that it was unsafe.
"Take a look at our spring, our source of water," one said. "Last year, the horns and hooves of a dead cow were found in it. Public health officials declared this water undrinkable."
Another villager told RFE/RL that officials usually visit the village only during election campaigns.
"We won't participate in the census until they listen to us," she said. "Let them say we are a dead village. I think this is what [the authorities] really want after all."
The village lacks both medical services and public transportation to connect it with the town of Belebey, 12 kilometers away.
The village, which has some 1,000 inhabitants, is 200 kilometers away from Ufa, the republican capital.
Villages told RFE/RL on condition of anonymity that public officials closed the spring that served as the village's only source of water on the grounds that it was unsafe.
"Take a look at our spring, our source of water," one said. "Last year, the horns and hooves of a dead cow were found in it. Public health officials declared this water undrinkable."
Another villager told RFE/RL that officials usually visit the village only during election campaigns.
"We won't participate in the census until they listen to us," she said. "Let them say we are a dead village. I think this is what [the authorities] really want after all."
The village lacks both medical services and public transportation to connect it with the town of Belebey, 12 kilometers away.