On 19 March, Sergey Bessonov, an environmental activist was detained by police while participating in a protest against construction of an eight-lane motorway over the top of a tree-lined slope in southern Moscow that contains radioactive waste buried in the Soviet era. He was taken to a police station and accused of “violating the procedure for holding a public event, which caused interference in the operation of infrastructure and transport” and “disobeying a lawful order of a police officer”. Activists have been protesting against the construction of the highway because they believe dangerous radioactive particles could be spread around and end up in people's lungs, causing cancer.