Horticulture base in Biryulyovo suspends operations

A horticulture base in Moscow’s Biryulyovo West district suspended its operations for the next five days on Monday after the Russian Federal Migration Service and the Russian consumer rights watchdog (Rospotrebnadzor) had started an inspection raid on its territory. Alexander Gorbenko, the Moscow deputy mayor for links with the media, told journalists on Monday that the situation in Biryulyovo was calm at the moment. “In the next five days, it will become clear what should be done with this base,” he emphasized. Federal Migration Service to set up a permanent migration checkpoint The Russian Federal Migration Service has met the request of residents of Moscow’s Biryulyovo West district to set up a permanent migration checkpoint at a local horticulture base, “We have agreed to organize such a checkpoint in the territory of the base at the request of the local residents,” Georgy Smoleyevsky, the prefect of Moscow’s southern administrative district, told journalists on Monday. Events in Biryulyovo A day earlier, a group of young people stormed the base and staged a pogrom in its territory on grounds that it employed a large number of illegal migrants allegedly linked to crimes and violations of public order. Moscow’s Biryulovo West district was a scene of fierce clashes on Sunday, following the murder of a local resident, Yegor Scherbakov, in the early hours of morning on October 13. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin has set a crisis management center. It comprises Olga Kirillova, the head of the Moscow Federal Migration Service, Anatoly Yakunin, the head of the Moscow interior department, Georgy Smoleyevsky, the prefect of Moscow’s southern administrative district, and Alexander Gorbenko, the Moscow deputy mayor for links with the media. The Moscow authorities are going to have another meeting with the Biryulyovo residents at 20:00 Moscow time on Monday.