Katouka Square Defender Knocked By Tractor

He was hit on his knees from behind and fell into the bucket.

On December 7, in the Minsk park Katouka, which the residents of neighboring houses and volunteers continue to protected from cutting down, a tractor hit a man. The man was hit on his knees from behind and fell into the bucket, activist of the Green Network association Hanna Dapshavichute told Euroradio.

"A local resident was standing with his back to the excavator, when it was driving across the green zone, and he did not see it moving. The bucket was slightly elevated. And, it turned out, that the excavator hit him on the knees with the bucket."

The injured man started to limp and was holding on to his knees for a while. An ambulance was called at the scene. All that happened in full view of the policemen, who the volunteers had called earlier to fix violations when cutting down the green zone. The law enforcers drew up a report over this fact, too.

"There are about 30 local people and activists, and a man with a switched on chain saw is walking among them, 20 centimeters apart, – Hanna Dapshavichute continues. – I do not know what his motives were, but he was walking with his switched on chain saw from one place to another, and we were following him and asking to turn it off, but he did not do that!"

The Katouka Park in Minsk has been protected against cutting down since summer. The city authorities allowed to build at this site a catholic church, the locals and environmentalists came out against the green zone destruction. However, the church did not give up on the project, citing the fact that a lot of parishioners’ money had been already invested in the construction.

On December 7, workers with equipment and chainsaws came to the park at about 7:30 am and managed to cut down some trees. However, some time after the incident with the man, hit by the tractor, they pulled out and went away from Katouka.