A Russian man has allegedly been trying to force his neighbors into selling their share of a communal apartment by playing the national anthem and other patriotic songs from early morning until late at night.
Several tenants and apartment owners in an apartment building in Volgograd, Russia, have been complaining of insufferable loud music playing on repeat in a communal apartment there, but so far, no one has been able to do anything about it.
It all started on February 5, when Maxim (pseudonym), the owner of a room in a communal apartment in building No. 2A on Volgograd’s Engels Boulevard, installed a pair of powerful speakers and started playing the Russian national anthem, other patriotic songs like “I Am Russian”, and the sound of dogs barking.
The entire building has been subjected to this musical torture every day since, and despite contacting the police, no one has been able to stop it.
46-year-old Svetlana Kuchmina, whose family owns two-thirds of the communal apartment, told V1 News that Maxim bought one of the rooms a few years ago, but they all lived in peace until last year when the man came to tell them that he wanted the entire place for himself and demanded that they sell their share to him.
Kuchmina, who had just suffered a stroke, refused, explaining that she had nowhere else to go. At the beginning of last month, he contacted the woman again, insisting that she sell him her share of the apartment, and when she refused, he promised to make life hell for her.
“He said he would turn my life into hell, move in Tajiks, and so on. On February 5, he brought a speaker into the room and our torment began,” Svetlana said. “The Russian anthem, the song ‘I am Russian’ and the barking of dogs play throughout the entire apartment from morning until night. He controls the playlist remotely. We called the local police officer, wrote statements, but there is still no result. Our neighbors also have to listen to all this all day long. They also called the police and wrote statements. The whole building is suffering because of him.”
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At first, Maxim had his sound system plugged into a power outlet, so Svetlana could just turn off the electricity to the apartment when they wanted to enjoy some peace and quiet, but their neighbor caught on fast and installed a solar-powered battery.
He locked the door to his room with padlocks and warned the woman and her son that he would call the police if they trespassed on his property. So now the music just plays continuously from 7 in the morning until 10 at night.
Contacted by Russian media, Maxim claimed that the loud music was a way to get back at Svetlana, who has dogs on her side of the apartment who bark and prevent him from accessing his room.
“They have dogs at home, which is why I have not been able to get into the apartment for four years,” Maxim complained. “It is hard to breathe there, it is a terrible mess. I cannot live there because of this. This is my protest. If they want, let them sue. They only listen to music for a couple of days, and I have not been able to get into the apartment for more than three years.”
Svetlana insists that the insufferable music is Maxim’s way of getting them to sell him their part of the communal apartment. He allegedly gave them the choice of buying his share for 1.5 million rubles ($16,700), but they can’t afford to, so is hell-bent on driving them out of the shared property.
Although the police were summoned several times, they did not break the padlocked door to Maxim’s room to stop the music, and they have yet to provide any solution to the bizarre conflict.
