Press Release, 23.07.2015

YABLOKO leader Sergei Mitrokhin sent an address to Russian President Vladimir Putin proposing to adopt complex measures for furter de-Bolshevisation of public areas and toponimic names of streets and cities in Russia.

Sergei Mitrokhin also proposed to erect the long-discussed monument to Prince Vladimir who baptized ancient Slaves at Lubyanka Square instead of bring back the statue of Felix Dzerzhinsky, founder and a symbol of the KGB.

According to Mitrokhin, setting the monument to Prince Vladimir at Lubyanka, the place where the FSB (former KGB) buildings are situated can be symbolic: “a monument to Baptiser of the ancient Rus will emerge at the place where there was a monument to the key figure of the Red Terror”.

On June 25, 2015, the Communist Party proposed a referendum which should have returned the monument to Dzerzhinsky back to the centre of Moscow, however, Muscovites did not approve of this initiative and it failed.

Also Mitorokhin calls the President to order to remove another monument to Felix Dzershinsky – his portrait sculpture from the territory of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the centre of Moscow. YABLOKO leader noted that this sculpture by the entrance to the ministry produces an ambiguous effect, as the figure of Dzerzhinsky represents the symbol of the revolutionary terror, rather than serving the people in accordance with the principles of the rule of law proclaimed by the Russian Consitution.

In addition Sergei Mitrokhin noted that the name of Vladimir Lenin, the key figure of the Russian coup of 1917 should be removed from the names of Moscow metro stations.

“Also for some strange reason, Lenin’s body has not been buried. Given the indifference of Muscovites to the restoration of the monument to Dzerzhinsky, the removal of Lenin’s body from the Mausoleum and its burial by the graves of his family members will not provoke strong social discontent [as suggested by the Communist Party], but will be an act of historical justice, in line with the Christian tradition, ” Sergei Mitrokhin said.

Mitrokhin also called the President to initiate a process of renaming the settlements, streets and squares named after state officials – organizers and active participants of Bolshevik crimes. He also added that Vladimir Putin had condemned in his speeches any manifestations of terrorism and revolutionary