Press Release, 15.01.2025

Photo: Roman Romanov, the dismissed Director of the GULAG History Museum / Photo by Dmitry Lebedev, Kommersant

Deputy Chairman of the Yabloko party Maxim Kruglov sent an appeal to the head of the Moscow Department of Culture Alexei Fursin with a request to explain the reasons for the dismissal of Roman Romanov from the post of Director of the GULAG History Museum, and also clarify whether this decision is connected with the suspension of the museum’s work.

“Thanks to the work of Roman Romanov, the GULAG History Museum has become a unique space for understanding and preserving the historical memory of the tragic period of Stalin’s repressions,” Kruglov writes in his appeal. “The museum has been awarded various state and international awards. For his work, Roman Romanov was awarded the Medal of the Order “For Merit to the Fatherland” of the 2nd degree – “for a great contribution to the development of national culture, art, mass media and many years of fruitful work”. I believe that the GULAG History Museum can be called one of the best museums in Europe working with the theme of historical memory,” Kruglov notes in the appeal.

On 13 January, it was reported that Roman Romanov, Director of the GULAG History Museum, who had held this post since 2012, was dismissed from his post. Anna Trapkova was appointed the new Director of the museum, she will combine this position with the post of Director of the Museum of Moscow.

On 14 November, 2024, the work of the GULAG History Museum was suspended due to an unscheduled fire safety inspection. According to the response of the Moscow Department of Culture to the request from the Yabloko party, the inspection was carried out on the basis of a complaint received by the Moscow Government. However, the response did not disclose either the applicant’s details or the content of the complaint.

MAXIM KRUGLOV

is a Deputy Chairman of Yabloko,

a member of the Federal Bureau of the Party,

Deputy Chairman of the Moscow branch of Yabloko,

head of the Yabloko faction in the Moscow City Duma (2019-2024),

Candidate of Political Sciences.