MOSCOW, July 1 (RAPSI) — In 2020, Russian Human Rights Commissioner Tatiana Moskalkova received 4,202 appeals concerning the exercise of the right to housing.  

The Ombudsman reminded that a day earlier the President of Russia Vladimir Putin for almost 4 hours answered 68 questions from citizens during the direct line time. Although the question ran across a broad range of topics, they all related to the rights and freedoms and problems actual for people. The overwhelming majority of questions concerned the social sphere. First of all, these were the problems associated with housing, the Ombudsman wrote on her social network page.

Thus, for example, the President promised to work out and sort out the situation of high charges for relocation from old unsafe houses, which was exemplified by the problem faced by a participant in the direct line.

The Ombudsman’s Office also often faces housing and utilities challenges in its work, Moskalkova writes. In 2020, the Office received 4,202 appeals concerning the exercise of the right to housing. This topic takes the third place among all appeals. Thus, from this January to May the Office has already received 2,426 complaints. Many of them are submitted in connection with the work of housing and communal services and emergency relocation, the Rights Commissioner observes.

At the end of May, during a working trip to Krasnoyarsk, Moskalkova conducted a personal reception of citizens. Most of the complaints also concerned housing issues; in general, according to the Ombudsman, her Office often had to intervene in such cases taking place over the country.