Russian environmentalists are trying to stop the destruction of the Khimki forest, one of the last natural woodlands on the edge of Moscow, the capital.

The area is in the path of a proposed highway, an $8bn project connecting Moscow to Saint Petersburg.

But the dispute has turned ugly with protesters armed with fireworks and molotov cocktails storming a town hall near Moscow and environmentalists have accused "hired thugs" of trying to evict them from the forest.

Al Jazeera's Neave Barker reports.