Ripples from Yury Luzhkov's ouster reached Oryol, Petrozavodsk, Voronezh and Transdnestr on Wednesday when local representatives said they would gladly take the towering Peter the Great statue admired by the former mayor but scorned by the provisional Moscow city government.
Acting Mayor Vladimir Resin offered the controversial 100-meter-high statue, which stands in the Moscow River, to St. Petersburg on Monday. But the local legislature and Governor Valentina Matviyenko said Wednesday that they did not want it, Interfax reported.
The legislature of Karelia's capital, Petrozavodsk, said Wednesday that it would like the statue to commemorate Peter the Great's founding of the city in 1703.
Oryol Mayor Viktor Safyanov also said his city would accept the statue, but he offered no explanation for why.
Voronezh youth groups said the monument should be moved to their city because Peter the Great used its shipyards to build Russia's naval fleet.
The People's Will party in Moldova's breakaway province of Transdnestr said the statue could be placed near the bridge over Dnestr, a river near the sites of some of Peter the Great's battles.
Relocation of the statue would cost $6 million to $10 million — enough to build one or two kindergartens in Moscow, a construction industry source told Interfax.
But prominent art curator Marat Guelman said Monday that he would find private sponsors to finance the removal of the statue, RIA-Novosti reported.
Meanwhile, Zurab Tsereteli, the sculptor who made the Peter the Great statue, announced Wednesday that he would “definitely” make a statue of Luzhkov.
“There will be a Luzhkov monument in Moscow,” he said, Interfax reported. "If no one else wants to make one, I will."
Tsereteli's private collection in Moscow already contains two statues of Luzhkov.
A Message from The Moscow Times:
Dear readers,
We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."
These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.
We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.
Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.
By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.
Remind me later.
