Around 600 bee colonies have died in Bolshemurtinsky District. Apiary owners say the deaths were caused by pesticides sprayed on neighboring rapeseed fields and have filed 18 complaints with the police, Novoe Vremya reported.
According to the beekeepers, local farmers were required to notify them in advance about the planned pesticide spraying but failed to do so. At a meeting with Pavel Goncharov, head of the district agriculture department, they accused local officials of failing to act.
On July 10, beekeeper Vladimir Melnik lost all 35 of his bee colonies. He filed a complaint with the prosecutor's office, asking it to open criminal cases over the destruction of property (Article 168 of Russia's Criminal Code) and violations of veterinary regulations (Article 249). In his complaint, Melnik also alleged that the administration of the Bolshemurtinsky-Sukhobuzimsky Municipal District was protecting the agricultural producers responsible for the deaths of the bees.
🔶Similar incidents have occurred in Krasnoyarsk Krai for years. In 2021, after more than 20 million bees died in Bogotolsky District, a criminal case was opened against the director of an agricultural enterprise. Similar complaints have been reported this summer in Tatarstan, Kabardino-Balkaria, Bashkortostan, Stavropol Krai, Altai Krai, and Samara Oblast.