In Irkutsk on Saturday Muslims will celebrate Eid al Adha. Thousands of believers are expected at the Cathedral Mosque, and streets will be closed and parking organized for residents and guests. The main sacrifice will take place only at a specially prepared site on Polyarnaya Street, with veterinary control, disinfection, and waste removal. The article also explains how rams will be sold in the city for the holiday and why authorities warn about the danger of animals without documents.

On Saturday, Muslims in Irkutsk will celebrate the largest Islamic holiday, which is part of the Hajj — the Muslim pilgrimage ritual to Mecca. On Friday at 1 p.m., a solemn sermon and prayer will take place at the Irkutsk Cathedral Mosque, during which believers will be told about the rules for observing Eid al-Adha this year.
On Saturday, October 4, city authorities expect at least 7,000 Muslims at the morning prayer at the Irkutsk Cathedral Mosque, which will begin at around 8:30, and about a thousand Muslims at the mosque on Tolevaya Street in the Zhilkino settlement (near the Siyash cafe). In this regard, starting at 6 a.m. on Saturday, Karl Liebknecht Street will be closed to traffic on the section from Utkina Street to 1st Sovetskaya Street. Parking for cars will be organized on the grounds of the Karamel shopping and entertainment center.
The main part of the holiday — the sacrifice of rams — will take place from 10 a.m. on the premises of the halal products production workshop at the address: Polyarnaya, 199a1. The enclosed territory of the production base has been hosting Eid al-Adha for the second year already. The performance of sacrificial rites on other plots of land in the city of Irkutsk is prohibited, and compliance with the ban will be monitored by the Department of State Veterinary Supervision for the city of Irkutsk.
From the evening of Friday, October 3, representatives of farms from the Irkutsk Region and Buryatia are expected to arrive in Irkutsk, bringing rams for sale for the Eid al-Adha holiday. According to the leader of Irkutsk’s Muslim community, Ramis Sultanov, the farmers will bring their goods to traditional places where many Muslims are located: mosques, markets, and the private residential sector.
Among the rams brought in may be animals without health passports, which may pose a danger to human health. For example, last year in Irkutsk, the Department of State Veterinary Supervision for the city of Irkutsk detained a shipment of 150 “illegal” rams brought from Buryatia.
Head of the Department of State Veterinary Supervision for the city of Irkutsk Vladimir Morozov noted that in some areas of Buryatia outbreaks of brucellosis were registered this year (an infectious disease affecting the bones, joints, nervous, and cardiovascular systems of humans), and animals brought from there may be infected.
When animals without accompanying documents are detained, the livestock is seized and placed in quarantine for 30 days, during which anti-epizootic measures are carried out. The person responsible for transporting the animals is held administratively liable under Article 10.8 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (violation of veterinary and sanitary rules for the transportation, driving, or slaughter of animals, or rules for the procurement, processing, storage, or sale of livestock products) and is fined from 3,000 to 5,000 rubles.
On Saturday, duty posts will be organized near the mosques in order to direct arriving farmers to the prepared site on Polyarnaya Street, 199a1. Special places for slaughtering animals will be set up there, and conditions will be created for disinfection and removal of biological waste.
Based on materials from the press service of the administration of the city of Irkutsk.