Press Release, 15.08.2017

According to newsorel.ru, Alexander Nagolyuk, Coordinator of YABLOKO electioral headquarters in Orel, challenged conservative writer and publicist Alexander Prokhanov, whose Izborsk Club offered to put a monument to Joseph Stalin in Orel.

Nagolyuk said in his video message, “I would like to call all supporters of the installation of monuments to tyrants, such odious personalities as Tzar Ivan the Terrible and Joseph Stalin, to an open debate. In order to make the meaning perfectly plain and finally find out whether it makes any sense from the moral point of view to put monuments to such personalities and whether it is worthwhile to put install any monuments in Orel in such hard times”.

The debate is planned to be held in the park-hotel Mechta within the discussion club “WTF?” on August 23.

Past week the Izborsk Club appealed to Vadim Potomsky, Governor of the Orel Region and a member of the Communist Party, with a request to establish a monument Joseph Stalin in Orel. Members of the Izborsk Club stated in their open letter that they had been taking part in the discussions about the installation of the monument to Tzar Ivan the Terrible and were ready for new discussions.

It is worthy of note that in the letter of Club members contained only one signature from a person – resident of the city. Also the initiative to install a monument to Stalin was not discussed with the Orel members of the Izborsk Club. Representative of the local branch of the deacon Igor Golikov, for example, unequivocally stated that he opposed installation of this monument.