Environmental activists detained during Khimki protest

Police on Sunday detained a group of environmental activists protesting at the Khimki forest, where a disputed road to St. Petersburg is being laid, a police spokesman said. Various political and environmental groups have long been protesting against the demolition of mature woodland near Moscow to make way for a new highway to Russia's second largest city. The project, however, was given the go-ahead last December, just three months after President Dmitry Medvedev put it on hold amid a huge public outcry. Police was called in by employees of a private security company, who said the environmentalists tried to halt construction equipment on the site, the spokesman said. "Several activists were taken to a police station for a preventive talk about unsanctioned protests, and were soon released," the source said. Both sides filed no complaints to police. The planned multi-lane motorway has divided public opinion, and several journalists who reported on the Khimki forest campaign have been attacked and badly hurt.