Residents of the northern Moscow region of Sokol have complained to city authorities about a bar that recently opened on the territory of a local World War I memorial, news website Moskva 24 reported Monday.
The bar is located in a former bunker on the territory of the Memorial-Park Complex of Heroes of World War I, which includes a cemetery, a chapel and a wall of memory.
Russia's health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor conducted an investigation of the property, but found no violations. The watchdog also noted that the restaurant had all the necessary documents for selling alcohol and hookahs, Moskva 24 reported.
Local residents are unwilling to back down, however, despite Rospotrebnadzor's finding.
“It's basically the only one really big World War I Memorial in Moscow,| local historian Mikhail Korobko told Moskva 24. “If you let this industry [bars] expand, it will take over the park.”
One visitor to the park called the bar “immoral,” according to Moskva24, while another told journalists “it destroys the historical integrity of the complex.”
At the very least, the residents hope to at least ban smoking hookah and drinking alcohol inside the bar, Moskva 24 reported.
