Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin have unveiled a new monument in Victory Park on Moscow's Poklonnaya Gora (Hill). The monument is a direct replica of the Military Glory Memorial that was demolished on orders from the Georgian government in Kutaisi last year.
Appropriately, Mr Putin subsequently left for the Ministry of Sport, Tourism and Youth Policy for a meeting with sport fans on the issue of extremism.
It was Mr Putin who first called for rebuilding the monument, titled "In the Fight against Fascism, We Fought Together." Its cornerstone was laid in Victory Park in May. Despite heavy snowfalls, Russian and Georgian war veterans came together to attend the unveiling ceremony. They stood around the 14-metre-tall fabric-covered monument, holding red carnations.
The people, and in particular the Georgian nation, had stood staunchly against the demolition of the Military Glory Memorial in Kutaisi as an act of state vandalism, Mr Putin stressed.
"The people have little sympathy for those who destroyed this monument, let alone the memory of our heroes, for those who are shunning their own history and our long-term traditions of friendship and mutual understanding," he said to the applause of war veterans
The monument was built exclusively on donations from over 6,000 private individuals and 317 companies. The Union of Russia's Georgians was actively involved in the process. A contest for the best monument was announced and subsequently won by a group of artists, including Salavat Shcherbakov, Andrei Kovalchuk and architect Vasily Perfilyev.
"The monument comprises two sections. The first section reenacts the events of May 1945 when the Banner of Victory was hoisted over the Reichstag. The second reminds us of the barbaric events of December 2009 in Kutaisi," Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said explaining the monument's meaning.
Upon leaving the memorial, Vladimir Putin and Nino Burdzhanadze, leader of the Georgian opposition, called for combating such manifestations of extremism and xenophobia, "regardless of the seductive slogans used to conceal them."
The conversation on extremism continued at the Ministry of Sport, Tourism and Youth Policy where the prime minister and the sports community discussed recent events leading to the murder of Spartak football fan Yegor Sviridov and the riots that followed.
"I was informed of your meeting, and I wanted to discuss a few problems. A young man has been killed, and it is a great tragedy," the prime minister said, prefacing a familiar lesson from Russian history.
"As you remember, some foreign invaders seized Moscow [in the 17th century], the official government was virtually paralysed and the capital was defended by ordinary people. Do you remember the monument to Minin and Pozharsky on Red Square? Who was Minin? He was an ordinary citizen and a Tatar by birth [...] The same thing happened during the Great Patriotic War," Mr Putin said.
The Prime Minister noted that nationalist slogans were being displayed at stadiums more and more often, and that emphasised that a country closed in on itself is doomed to failure. On the contrary, an open country can expect success in any endeavor, including sports.
"No matter where we live and what religion we preach, we have common values, including love towards one's homeland, respect for the older generation and pride in the heroic history of our homeland," Vladimir Putin went on to say.
The prime minister finally remarked that he refused to accept the stance of any side.
"I wouldn't give ten kopecks for a person who goes to the North Caucasus and starts insulting the locals," he said in conclusion and called on the sports community to exert more influence on fan movements, "which have never succumbed to extremist provocations and have never allowed anyone to control them."
By Yulia Shestopyorova