More than 100 Chinese workers marched through the streets of Komsomolsk-on-Amur on the morning of April 12, according to videos published by Komsagram and the Telegram channel Kasatkin Pishet (Kasatkin Writes). After the march, the protesters sat down on the sidewalks and lawns along Pervostroiteley Avenue.
Eyewitnesses told the Russian Telegram news channel Ostorozhno Novosti that the protest was organized by workers of the company Petro-Khekhoa from a construction camp near an oil refinery. Video footage showed the workers carrying signs in Chinese and Russian, appealing to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Rosneft chief Igor Sechin for help.
The city’s mayor, Dmitry Zaplyutayev, went to meet with the protesters, the author of the Telegram channel Kasatkin Pishet wrote. A post appeared on the mayor’s VK page saying that city authorities and law enforcement were in talks with the Chinese workers — but the post was later deleted.
Police and the Russian National Guard, on duty at the protest site, have not detained any of the demonstrators.
Chinese workers at an oil refinery in Komsomolsk-on-Amur staged a similar protest over unpaid wages in November 2021, at which time they demanded to be sent home.
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