Kondopoga

Kondopoga ( _ru. Кондопога; _fi. Kontupohja; Karelian: "Kondupohju") is a town in the Republic of Karelia, Russia. It is situated on the coast of the Kondopozhskaya gulf of Lake Onega, near the mouth of the Suna River and Kivach Nature Reserve, about 54 km from Petrozavodsk.

Kondopoga has a railroad station on the Moscow–Murmansk railroad, some of the largest pulp and paper mills in Eastern Europe, a medical college, and facilities for the manufacture of building materials. Population: 34,863 (2002 Census).

First recorded as early as 1495, Kondopoga retains a rare monument of Russian wooden architecture — the Dormition Church ( _ru. Успенская церковь), built in 1774. The central column of this church is crowned by a hipped roof, 42 m in total height. The column is based on a central rectangular framework, with adjacent frameworks for the refectory and altar. The altar framework is covered by a traditional wooden roof, called a barrel roof.

2006 ethnic tensions

On the night of 29 August – 30 August two ethnic Russians were killed and several others badly injured by Chechens in the Chayka («Чайка») restaurant, owned by an Azeri.

On the night of September 1 – 2 September, 2006, groups of ethnic Russian youths clashed with OMON (Ministry of Internal Affairs special forces) troops and destroyed the Chayka restaurant by setting it on fire. A number of Chechen-owned businesses were also targeted.

On 2 September, two days after the beginning of rioting, there was a mass meeting held at the town hall. A number of Russian nationalists came from Moscow, including leaders of Movement Against Illegal Immigration, and organized a rally calling on the government to forcibly resettle all people from the Caucasus, especially ethnic Chechens, from the town.

External links

* [http://www.kondopoga.ru/EN/ Official website of Kondopoga] en icon ru icon fi icon

Links about ethnic tensions in Kondopoga

* [http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/09/14/002.html Fear and Uncertainty Reign in Kondopoga] , by Carl Schreck, The Moscow Times, 14 September 2006.
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5312078.stm Russian town hit by race violence] , BBC, 4 September 2006.
* [http://www.sptimes.ru/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=18713 Violent Mobs Attack Immigrants in Karelia] , St. Petersburg Times (Russia), 5 September 2006.
* [http://en.rian.ru/russia/20060904/53500029.html Authorities scramble to curb ethnic violence in North Russia] , RIAN, 4 September 2006.
* [http://xeno.sova-center.ru/6BA2468/6BB4208/884A3C7 Galina Kozhevnikova. Autumn - 2006: Under the Kondopoga Banner] , SOVA Center, 4 January 2007.
* [http://www.cityk.onego.ru/forum/index.php Kondopoga city forum with first-hand discussions of the conflict] ru icon
* [http://dpni.org/index.php?0++7321 Movement Against Illegal Immigration. Events in Kondopoga] ru icon