At 3 am on January 21, with temperatures plummeting below minus 25, bulldozers rolled into the picturesque Rechnik neighbourhood on the banks of the Moskva River close to the city centre.
Bailiffs and riot police had been ordered to evict scores of people and tear down their homes, all apparently unannounced.
Some householders barricaded themselves in. One man even threatened to commit suicide.
You can see footage from the Russian News agency RIA Novosti here.
According to Julia in London, whose family home is in danger of being demolished, Rechnik has been turned into a war zone.
"The Russian police are using gas and beating up women," she wrote in an email.
Legal experts have called the move a violation of human rights.
The media has now been blocked from accessing the site so it's difficult to verify the claims but the authorities say they're acting lawfully.
According to homeowners the land was originally set aside for war veterans to build dachas (traditional Russian country houses) but the site has grown unhindered for decades.
Rechnik now includes permanent structures including mansions, one reportedly with a leopard in a private zoo. All these buildings the authorities say are illegal and dangerous.
The authorities say they’re going to build a park on the site and are now eyeing Fantasy Island, a luxurious housing estate next door for demolition.
Moscow’s Mayor Yuri Luzkhov, a man criticized for the destruction of swathes of the capitals historic centre, insists the demolition is not a case of selective justice.
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