Residents of a village close to Moscow have declared their independence from Russia.

They made the decision after a toll road was built there despite a local referendum which was 95 percent against it.

The campaigners from Shebantsevo say their property rights have been violated so they now want to break away and join the European Union.

Yevgeny Arkhipov, a resident of the village said:

“Now we face the fact that the interests of the local population and the interests of ethnic groups living in Russia are not taken into account by the federal centre, are not taken into account by the Russian Federation.

“Therefore we have made a decision to change the legal status of the Domodedovo district and to start a procedure to create a Russki Democratic Republic which would integrate into the European community, into the European Union and would become a part of Europe.”

It is unlikely the authorities will accept the independence bid however. Domodedovo district is home to one of Russia’s largest airports.