Only this time, it will be in Moscow.
The memorial to the victims of the Great Patriotic War that was blown up in Georgia recently will be restored in Moscow, Vladimir Putin told a meeting of the government presidium yesterday. He hopes that the Georgian diaspora in Moscow will help fund the monument.
On Saturday, the Georgian city of Kutaisi was rocked by an explosion that destroyed the memorial to the victims of the Great Patriotic War built in the mid-1980s. A second parliament building is to be erected in its place. The Georgian Foreign Ministry, however, described the action as "restoration" and not dismantling.
Vladimir Putin did not find the explanation satisfactory and apparently does not trust the Georgian promise. "This is an attempt to erase the memory of a common past" he said. "Not only the memorial has been destroyed, but some people died during the explosion," Putin noted.
But the Russian reaction to what happened will not be confined to verbal condemnation. "It has been decided to recreate the monument in the capital of the once united state, in Moscow," the prime minister said. "Thank God, the creator of the monument is alive, and we should talk with our specialists too."
The site of the monument has yet to be designated: the prime minister has ordered the Moscow government to find a "worthy place." Putin hopes that there are "enough people to donate money for the monument." He also expects donations from the Georgian community in Moscow. He did not say whether budget money would be used too.
While commenting on what happened in Georgia, Putin contrasted the attitude toward war veterans in Russia and Georgia. The prime minister said that we honour our common memories, although what we do for the veterans is only "a small part" of what we could have done. Elaborating on this theme, Deputy Prime Minister Sergey Ivanov said that during the celebrations of Victory Day between May 1 and May 9, veterans will be offered free use of all types of public transport except taxis. Additionally, veterans will be provided with transportation to attend celebrations in the CIS and its cities such as Kiev, Minsk, Brest and some others.
A billion roubles will be allocated for the purpose. Another 10 billion will be used for lump sum payments: participants in the Great Patriotic War and groups equated to them will get 5000 roubles and wartime workers and former concentration camp inmates will get 1000 roubles. These figures may have prompted Vladimir Putin's allusion about "a small part."
On another topic related to the celebration, Putin called on his fellow citizens to handle pyrotechnics more carefully: "Take care of yourselves and your close ones," he cautioned. He also warned those who broke fire safety rules, saying that those who "play with fire chasing quick money should think again." That thinking will be aided by documents that the government discussed yesterday. The Minister for Emergencies reported that the use of pyrotechnics will be banned on all premises, on the territories of fire-prone facilities, on rooftops, balconies, stages, stadiums, national parks, during rallies, and even at cemeteries.
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The creator of the demolished monument, sculptor Mirab Berdzenishvili, was distressed to hear that his brainchild had been demolished. He has been communicating with journalists through his relatives. The famous Soviet Georgian sculptor, born in 1929, took ten years to build the memorial to the Liberator Soldier in Kutaisi. The monument was unveiled in 1981. People's Artist of the USSR and winner of the State Prizes of the USSR and Georgia, he is the creator of many monuments famous throughout Georgia, including the Portrait of a Mountaineer, a monument to David the Builder, Portrait of Marshal Gelovani, the Soldier's Father monument, and a monument to mark the 30th anniversary of victory in the city of Marneuli.
By Tatyana Zamakhina