Natalia Shamina, head of the Novosibirsk branch of the All-Russian Society for the Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments (VOOPIiK), was detained at the monument to Cyril and Methodius in Moscow on July 25 and taken to Psychiatric Clinical Hospital No. 1. That same day she began a hunger strike to protest a bill that allows regional authorities to unilaterally remove buildings from the list of cultural heritage sites.
According to preservation activist Igor Kochetkov, who spoke to SOTAvision, Shamina's colleagues consider her hospitalization illegal and are preparing a complaint. A volunteer who tried to deliver essential items to the activist said hospital staff refused to accept them, saying the delivery could only be arranged after the weekend.
Shamina could not be reached — her phone was switched off. Kochetkov told 7x7 and Vetr that in the psychiatric hospital, staff tied her to a bed and forcibly administered medication. Police claimed that during her arrest Shamina behaved aggressively, and doctors interpreted her hunger strike as a suicide attempt. A mobile court session was held at the hospital: the prosecutor's office did not support the doctor's position, the judge also found no grounds for hospitalization, and Shamina was released.
Shamina came to Moscow after failing to secure protection for the Voyenny Gorodok — a complex of early-20th-century buildings in Novosibirsk, some of which may be demolished for new construction. She held her first picket outside the Presidential Administration on June 22; police and Rosgvardia officers approached her but did not detain her. On July 24 she was detained and released, after which she resumed her picket. The next day Shamina began a hunger strike at the monument to Cyril and Methodius, saying she would stay there overnight.
The protests were triggered by amendments to the law 'On Objects of Cultural Heritage of the Peoples of the Russian Federation,' which the State Duma adopted in early July. The Federation Council approved the document, and Vladimir Putin signed it on July 26. Under the new law, regional authorities gain the right to strip monuments of regional and local significance of their protected status. Previously such decisions were made at the federal level.
Natalia Shamina holds a doctorate in biology and has been involved in heritage preservation for more than 20 years. In 2006 she took part in protests against deforestation in Akademgorodok, and since 2016 she has headed the Novosibirsk branch of VOOPIiK. According to Igor Kochetkov, Shamina is 'a very principled person' who sees the preservation of monuments as a matter of preserving the state.