Staunton, Aug. 19 – Thirty-two years ago after the August 1991 coup attempt collapsed, the people of Moscow celebrated by tearing down the statue of Cheka founder Feliks Dzerzhinsky in Lyubyanka Square. Now, across Russia, statues Joseph Stalin are going up, the Sakharov Center is being closed, and many expect the Yeltsin Center to be shuttered next.
The removal of Dzerzhinsky’s statue in many ways became the symbol of the defeat of the Soviet system and the aspirations of the Russian people for freedom and democracy. The events now represent an emphatic end to their immediate possibilities, with many in the population supporting the actions of those in power who are taking the new actions.
On the rise of new Stalin statues and the opening of new Stalin Centers, see svoboda.org/a/natsistskiy-triumf-duha-blogery-ob-otkrytii-pamyatnika-stalinu/32553675.html, semnasem.org/news/2023/08/15/v-pskovskoj-oblasti-otkryli-vosmimetrovyj-pamyatnik-stalinu and sovross.ru/2023/08/16/v-velikih-lukah-otkryli-pamyatnik-stalinu/.
And on the moves to close the Sakharov Center and the hopes of some to close the Yeltsin Center as well, see stoletie.ru/lenta/mosgorsud_likvidiroval_saharovskij_centr_274.htm and svpressa.ru/society/article/383855/.
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