Instead of focusing on the woes of Russian telecom major Sistema and the Kundankulam nuclear plant, which Russian president Vladimir Putin is expected to red-flag during his one-day visit to New Delhi on Monday, the Indian Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) authorities in Moscow expect Indian decision-makers to take note of their plight. The devotees face eviction even from the makeshift temple premises (an iron shack constructed after the main temple was razed in 2004) from January 15, 2013.

A chilling video of devotees of Lord Krishna facing sub-minus-18-degree Moscow temperatures, a few still pictures and a petition have been shared with the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), addressed to principal secretary Pulok Chatterji and other senior interlocutors, including foreign minister Salman Khurshid (please see attachments).

Iskcon’s aim is to counter syrupy press coverage being orchestrated for Putin’s New Delhi visit and instead turn focus on the sordid sequence of events in Moscow, where the city’s only Hindu temple was bulldozed to the ground in 2004.

After much outcry in India, including actress Hema Malini and some top industrialists, prime minister Manmohan Singh intervened with Putin and Iskcon was allowed to construct a corrugated iron shack with no sewers or heating, with the promise that they would be able replace it with a more dignified permanent temple.

However, the Moscow city administration is now citing “improprieties” in their own allotment order, as the structure allegedly “violates the urban planning code,” and “has no legal ground.” This follows a near fait accompli Iskcon faced in December 2011 regarding a ban on Bhagwad Gita in a court case slammed on Iskcon in the city of Tomsk.

Even as India and Russia are poised to sign almost a dozen bilateral agreements, Sistema and Kudankulam promise to sour Putin’s visit. India has told Russia that it would not intervene in the Sistema imbroglio — the Russian telecom company had its licence cancelled in the wake of the 2G scam.

Russian ambassador Alexander Kadakin, however, said on Friday that it was a "political" and not a judicial decision. Speaking on the issues relating to Kudankulam nuclear projects, he described Kudankulam 3 and 4 as "grandsons" of Kudankulam 1 and 2. He stressed that the agreements for 3 and 4 were finalised in 2008 and hence should not be come under the purview of the 2010 civil nuclear liability law.