Putin Constantly Talks about Preserving Russia’s Heritage but New Duma Measure Puts Almost 90 Percent of Heritage Sites at Risk

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Mar. 13 – As was the case in Soviet times, the Russian Federation maintains lists of heritage sites which cannot be tampered with or destroyed except after what has usually been a slow and difficult process. But now that arrangement may be about to change, putting at

            The Duma has passed on first reading a bill which hands over to local and regional officials the decision as to whether this or that object of cultural heritage no longer should have that status and may be modified or destroyed altogether to save money or make room for new construction (https://nemoskva.net/2026/03/13/sudbu-regionalnyh-pamyatnikov-otdali-na-otkup-mestnym-vlastyam-eto-stavit-ih-pod-ugrozu/).

            Conservators and historical preservationist activists say this will put some 85,000 historical sites and monuments at risk, some 84.5 percent of all such places in the Russian Federation and that the new law is “a trojan horse” that will open the door to the wholesale destruction of lesser-known heritage sites (t.me/Bukin_Oleg/1247 and t.me/regaspect/352). 

            These activists say that they do not think there is any way the proposed law can be modified to make it better and are calling for the Duma to reject it.  But their appeals are unlikely to succeed and the Duma appears set to approve the measure next month. In that event, the hard-pressed regions will likely open the door to the wholesale destruction of such monuments.