Press Release, 16.12.2024

Photo: An exhibit of the GULAG History Museum / Photo by Ivan Vodopyanov, Kommersant

Yabloko received a response from the Moscow Department of Culture to the appeal by the Deputy Chairman of Yabloko Maxim Kruglov about the reasons for the closure of the GULAG History Museum. The Moscow Mayor’s Office listed the violations discovered during the inspection of the building, and also indicated the conditions for resuming the Museum’s work.

The fire safety violations included among other the following: “restricted access for fire-fighting equipment, obstruction of evacuation routes, insufficient height of the evacuation exit,” etc. The Department of Culture also believes that special fire safety requirements are imposed on the Museum due to the location of the Moscow metro ventilation chamber on its territory, since a fire and smoke in the building could allegedly affect the operability of the ventilation system in the metro.

Some of the comments on violations refer to organizational issues and can be eliminated by the Museum, while others are more serious and will most likely require longer-term work on the design and development of a complex of special events, the Mayor’s Office said in its response.

It should be noted that on 14 November, it was reported that the GULAG History Museum had suspended its work. The Museum’s website stated that “as a result of an inspection by specialists from the Centre for Expertise, Research and Testing in Construction, violations of fire safety requirements were detected”. According to the conclusion of the Centre, they posed a threat to the safety and comfortable stay of Museum visitors and had to be eliminated.

The response of the Department of Culture to the appeal of Yabloko indicated that the inspection of the Museum was carried out on the basis of a complaint received by the Moscow Government. The details of the person who filed the complaint and its content were not disclosed.

The Department of Culture sent the relevant instructions to its technical centre. According to the letter signed by Anton Goryanov, head of the Museum and exhibition department, after the violations are corrected and the necessary permits are received, the Museum will again be able to receive visitors.

Deputy Chairman of Yabloko Maxim Kruglov hopes that the letter from the Department of Culture contains reliable information, and the GULAG History Museum will be able to resume its work.

“I would like to believe that what happened to the Museum does not confirm the trend towards rehabilitation of Stalinism, but is an ordinary administrative process. The GULAG History Museum is a unique space that conveys to Russians those terrible events of our history, without understanding the essence of which no movement forward is possible. We will closely monitor the situation with the Museum,” Maxim Kruglov summed up.