Khimki Forest is a forest near the Russian city of Moscow covering about 1000 hectares. It is part of the so-called "Green Belt" around Moscow. An $8 billion high speed road, the Moscow – Saint Petersburg motorway (M11), has been proposed to go through the forest to connect Moscow and Saint Petersburg. For this purpose, part of the forest would have been cut down. The construction triggered large protests, which turned violent in July, 2010. On 26 August, President Dmitry Medvedev ordered the construction to be halted.