Yury Kladov, a Rechnik resident and village representative, made the accusation at a press conference held on Friday by the federal land registration service, Rosreestr. He claimed that part of the documents needed to legally register the houses, thus theoretically annulling a court order to demolish them, were stolen by government authorities when the residents had filed them. Other necessary documents have been locked in state archives that residents have no access to, he said.

Kladov stressed that civil servants were free to access the documents.

Rosreestr deputy manager Galina Yelizarova rebutted by saying that none of the 80 rejected registrations filed by Rechnik residents in the past three years have been contested in court. Her colleague, Vadim Andropov, added that this was because the residents know they lack the necessary documents to register the homes – seeming to imply that such documents did not exist, as opposed to residents’ claims that the documents are being withheld by the state.

Kladov countered that Rechnik residents lacked faith that the courts would be a viable avenue to obtain registration for their homes, and would do nothing more than postpone the inevitable demolitions.

Moscow city authorities began demolishing buildings in Rechnik on January 21, after a court order deemed the buildings to have been illegally built. Residents maintain that the village was supposed to have fallen under a “dacha amnesty” program that legalized all of the villages similar to theirs, and point to neighboring estates featuring luxury villas as evidence that the city just wants to drive them out to develop the land.

Two weeks later, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev ordered the Prosecutor General to investigate the legality of the buildings, and demolitions were temporarily suspended. By that time, however, several dozen had already been razed. Residents, meanwhile, have attempted to gain refugee status in Germany and the United States, and began claiming genocide after 12 elderly residents died from the stress of losing their homes.

According to Rechnik resident Yury Kladov, the causes of death were all directly related to the constant psychological pressure and fear resulting from the violent destruction of their homes. Before passing away, he says, some of the elderly blamed the Moscow government directly for their impending deaths.

On this basis, Kladov asserts, the residents have reason to accuse the authorities of genocide.

The demolition of several dozen houses in the small Moscow village began on January 21, after a court ruled in favor of a claim by the Moscow government that the houses were built illegally. Residents maintain that the Soviet-era buildings fall under a “dacha amnesty” program that was implemented for other similar villages. Rechnik, they say, was simply forgotten, and charge that authorities now want to use the area’s prime real estate to build luxury villas.

Two Rechnik residents were hospitalized and 25 detained on January 21 after attempting to block demolition teams from reaching their homes. Since then, the village has employed a variety of measures to call attention to their plight, blocking traffic on Moscow’s main roads and appealing to the United States and Germany for refugee status. Sixty-four resident veterans have appealed to the Federal Veterans Council for support.

At a rally on Monday in central Moscow, Rechnik residents were joined by activists from a multitude of rights and opposition groups, burning a portrait of Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov and calling for him to resign.

Sergei Udaltsov, activist and coordinator of the Left Front political organization, told the approximately 200 people gathered that the consequences of the demolitions in Rechnik stretch far beyond the village itself. “If they go to Rechnik today, then tomorrow they can go to any other Moscow neighborhood and evict us from our homes,” he said.

As of Tuesday, 22 Rechnik houses have been torn down, with at least another 15 slated for demolition.