Exactly one year ago yesterday, activist Ilya Borodaenko was murdered during an attack by a group of Nazi skinheads on a ecology protest action to which he was taking part. In his memory, groups of people gathered in several Russian towns, among which Irkutsk, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, and Samara.

On July 21, 2007, a group of ecologists in Angarsk (Irkutsk region) had gathered to protest against the development of nuclear energy undertaken by the Russian government, the unsafe storage of radioactive waste, and the growth in capacity of the uranium enrichment enterprise in the town. At 5 a.m., a time when the protesters were sleeping in their tents, about 25 people screaming slogans reported as characteristic of Nazi-skinhead movements, attacked the camp armed with compressed air guns, baseball bats, knives, and iron rods. More than 20 people were arrested in the following few days, but the investigation is not yet over (the underage attackers are not allowed to leave the locality, while the adults are in custody).

In Novosibirsk, people gathered in the evening in the Pervamaiscaya (First of May) Square; they lit candles underneath Ilya’s portrait, and displayed banners with the slogan “Radiation kills nature, Nazism kills people”.

In Moscow, close to 30 people gathered on the Mal. Ordynka Street, in front of the administrative building of ROSATOM – the company against the uranium enrichment projects of which Ilya and his group were protesting. The participants lit candles and declared that “Today we grieve, but tomorrow we will continue our fight […] against the fascist plague and the atomic mafia”.

In Irkutsk, about 20 people gathered to honor Ilya’s memory. Three participants, climbed on an apartment building displayed a banner with the inscription “On July21, 2007, Ilya Borodaenko was killed by neo-Nazis. We will not forget, we will not forgive!”; the others stood below holding photographs of the activist. However, within half an hour from the commencement of the memorial action, four participants, including an elderly woman, were arrested by the police. According to the officers, the four are accused of “breaking the rules of conducting meetings, mass actions, and protests” (Article 20, Paragraph 2 of the Russian Penal Code).