For the past few weeks, several videos filmed in the stairwell of an apartment building in the city of Tver have been burning up the Russian Internet. The videos feature a man who is repeatedly very drunk, to the point of falling down, often while screaming belligerently.
Reporters at the Russian news websites Meduza and Life traced the footage to Andrei Gorev, a man who says he moved to the apartment building in question roughly six years ago. The man captured on video screaming threats and falling over drunk outside Gorev’s door is reportedly an upstairs neighbor named Evgeny.
Gorev told Life that the feud began when he once complained audibly to his wife about the noise Evgeny was making in the stairwell with his friends. In response, Evgeny threatened Gorev and his family with violence. In a video Gorev uploaded to YouTube on Jan. 14, a man pounds deafeningly on his front door. When he answers the door, a drunken voice screams at him, threatening to shoot him.
There's good reason to take Evgeny’s threats seriously, it turns out. According to Tver News, a local media outlet, Gorev once visited Evgeny’s apartment to complain about loud noise, which he says was making it impossible for his two children to sleep. Instead of quieting down, Evgeny reportedly produced a pistol and shot Gorev in the shoulder with a rubber bullet.
Gorev says he complained to the police, but they did nothing. He’s not alone, either. At least 20 other residents in the apartment building say they’ve filed a collective complaint with the police, and Gorev has hired a lawyer to press his case.
When Evgeny’s drunken harassment crossed a line, Gorev installed a surveillance camera in the hallway outside his apartment door. This is how he recorded the footage of Evgeny banging on his door, falling over, and screaming threats. The videos also show two older women trying to disable Gorev’s camera. One smacks it with hammer, and another repeatedly spray paints over the lens. These women are reportedly Evgeny’s mother and grandmother.
Gorev says he has tried complaining directly to the grandmother, but she only warned him that her grandson would “have his vengeance.”
As for Evgeny, he told Life that the quarrel began when Gorev allegedly keyed his car and painted a “red star” on its hood. “Everything was peaceful before that,” he insists.
Asked about his behavior on film, Evgeny accused Gorev of capturing him at a moment of weakness. “Everyone has bad situations in life, when a man breaks,” he said, assuring everyone that he’s fine now.
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