First eviction

St. Petersburg, Russia

A St. Petersburg mother and son have become the first Russians to be evicted from their apartment under a new housing code. Authorities moved Lyudmila Sokolovskaya and her adult son from their three-room apartment to a room in a communal apartment. Courts had repeatedly ordered Sokolovskaya to pay the 48,000 rubles (nearly $1,700) she owed since 1999, giving her years to do so. It has traditionally been extremely difficult in Russia to evict nonpaying tenants, but a new code allows eviction after six months’ delinquency. During her eviction, Sokolovskaya was obviously drunk, and she apologized to reporters for her condition. “What else can I do if something like this is happening?” Sokolovskaya said.