With thunderstorms and powerful avalanches having left villages near Krasnaya Polyana without electricity, the Estonians who have lived there since their ancestors settled in the region in the late 19th century when Estonia was part of the Russian empire, are upset at being ignored.
Power was swiftly restored to the nearby dachas of Russia's rich and powerful, Postimees Online reported on Jan. 11 citing a report broadcast on Russia's TV6.
"It's the same thing for the second winter in a row. And rumor has it that it's only going to get worse. No matter how much they build here it won't make our situation better," a woman told a TV6 reporter based in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.
The remote area was hit by a construction boom two years ago when Putin made a skiing trip to Krasnaya Polyana. Resort projects were launched within months, and business tycoons and politicians who wanted to be close to power began to acquire real estate in the region where the president went for holiday.
Now, the Estonians' old houses stand side-by-side with new brick edifices of the nouveau riche copying the designs normally found in the most prestigious dacha areas near Moscow.
"Land in Krasnaya Polyana now costs as much as in Barvikha," the TV6 correspondent said, referring to the location near Moscow where former Russian President Boris Yeltsin is spending his days.
Estonians speaking to the correspondent said they had nothing against the development they saw around their homes because this meant extra earnings for everyone. But they wanted to be treated on an equal footing with the newcomers.
"All the time we see them driving. Once it was probably Putin who drove by. More recently it was Chubais. But no one cares about us," one woman said. "So, if electricity won't come back, we'll go for it and block their route tomorrow," she said.
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