War on monuments: a new round started in Zvenigorod and Moscow

And in Moscow, residents do not want to see monuments devoted to the ex-head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations Yevgeny Zinichev...

Irina Mishina

Incredible and absurd events unfolded over the weekend in Zvenigorod - a city that bears the honorary title of "Settlement of Military Valor". At night, the newly erected monuments to Heroes of the Great Patriotic War, Heroes of the Soviet Union Mikhail Pronin - General, Divisional Commander of the 144th Infantry Division, which held back the German offensive near Vyazma in 1941, and Hero of the Soviet Union, local resident Vasily Fabrichnov, sergeant, were removed from the pedestals. machine gunner who died in 1945. The busts of the heroes were made at the expense of the townspeople and installed on the Alley of Military Glory in memory of the 80th anniversary of the Red Army's counteroffensive against the Nazi troops. But at night these monuments were dismantled ...

“The head of the territorial administration of Zvenigorod, Rinat Mangushev, in parallel with the collection of national funds, initiated the collection of signatures among municipal officials against our national monuments. Allegedly, this was not agreed with the local authorities. Many signatures “against” national monuments, as it turned out, were falsified. But the people insisted, united and established the Memorial of Glory to the heroes of the Patriotic War. People did it themselves, without bosses and financial help "from above". We also erected these monuments on our own, without the help of the city administration. They held the opening ceremony, laid flowers. But on the night of December 5 - the day of the 80th anniversary of the defense of Moscow - our monuments were dismantled. We called the police and documented the vandalism. As it turned out, the voluntary people's squad with representatives of the territorial administration of Zvenigorod dismantled the monuments to the heroes of the Great Patriotic War. He admitted that he had dismantled the national monuments at the direction of the head of the territorial administration, Mangushev. Unrest began in the city, and the head of the Odintsovo urban district, Ivanov, was forced to publicly declare that what happened was a mistake of the local authorities", - a local resident, retired Interior Ministry colonel Maxim Smirnov, told Novye Izvestia.

The dismantled monuments to the heroes of the Great Patriotic War were found in the building of the territorial administration of Zvenigorod. The residents took them back. Now they are re-installed in their places.

During the day we tried to call the Zvenigorod administration, but none of the phones answered. Either the entire local administration did not come to work together, or the phones suddenly broke down. The position of the local Zvenigorod authorities raises questions also because Article 67.1 of the Russian Constitution reads: “The Russian Federation honors the memory of the defenders of the Fatherland, ensures the protection of historical truth. Diminishing the significance of the heroic deed of the people in the defense of the Fatherland is not allowed".

As you know, the introduction of this amendment to the Constitution of the Russian Federation was accompanied by numerous speeches by officials who stigmatized everyone who could offend by word, deed or even a hint of veterans or the memory of the war. I remember there were even demonstration trials over some of them. But what is not allowed to ordinary citizens turned out to be allowed to officials.

We all remember the wave of protests, right up to the official statements of the Russian Foreign Ministry, caused by the desecration and dismantling of monuments to Russian soldiers in Europe. And then - it turns out, is it allowed to destroy your own Memory with your own hands with impunity?

Monuments in recent years, apparently, have become a painful point that divided society into "ours" and "not ours." A similar Zvenigorod wave of protest arose in the Western District of Moscow, in the Fili-Davydkovo area, where the authorities, against the will of local residents, decided to erect a monument to the ex-head of the Emergencies Ministry, Yevgeny Zinichev, who died in September this year.

The comic of the situation is that there will be two monuments to Zinichev in the region. The monument to the former head of the Emergencies Ministry in the lobby of the Davydkovo metro station is being piled by the famous sculptor Salavat Shcherbakov, who became famous thanks to the sculpture of Prince Vladimir opposite the Borovitsky Gate. Apparently, the scale of the new monument to the ex-head of the Ministry of Emergencies will be similar. But the local residents did not agree, and the local regional group voted against: they do not want to see the Zinichev monument in the area of 205 people, “for” - only 24 people. Almost half of the local residents do not know exactly who Yevgeny Zinichev is.

At the same time, an appeal appeared in the district, initiated by local municipal deputies and residents of the district with a call to erect a monument to General of the Army Nikolai Vatutin, whose name is the nearby street. Recall that the operation for the defense of Moscow, which he headed, is associated with the name of Nikolai Fedorovich Vatutin. At the disposal of our editorial office was an appeal spread by the initiative group. It specifically says:

“December 16, 2021 marks the 120th anniversary of the birth of the outstanding Soviet commander, General of the Army, Hero of the Soviet Union Nikolai Fedorovich Vatutin, whose name is one of the streets of our region. In June 1941, N.F. Vatutin led the General Staff, then, until his death, was the chief of staff of the North-Western Front. Under his leadership, the Moscow defensive operation was carried out. Monuments to Vatutin were installed only in Ukraine, where they were desecrated. There is still no monument to Vatutin in Moscow, although his services in defending the capital were included in the annals of the history of the Great Patriotic War. It is a matter of great disappointment that the initiatives of the veterans of the Great Patriotic War, the public of the region, to establish a monument to N.F. Vatutin in Moscow remained unrealized. At the same time, at the initiative of the Russian Military-Historical Society, the installation of a monument on Kremenchug Boulevard to the Minister of the Russian Federation for Civil Defense and Emergencies, General of the Army E.N. Zinichev, who died in the fall of 2021, is now being discussed. that another monument to Zinichev will be erected in our area during the construction of the Davydkovo metro station. We ask you to show concern and sign an appeal to the mayor of Moscow S. Sobyanin with a request to erect a monument to Nikolai Fedorovich Vatutin in Moscow, on the street that bears his name".

After the publication of Novye Izvestia's article “Every monument is a scandal: why there are so many controversies around new monuments in Moscow”, - Alexander Vatutin, the grandson of Army General Nikolay Vatutin, turned to me. What he told about the memory of his legendary grandfather, who led the defense of Moscow in December 1941, causes equal bitterness and bewilderment.

“The monument to the grandfather was erected, as you know, in Kiev, next to his grave. This happened because Nikolai Fedorovich commanded the First Ukrainian Front. Although he died from the militants of the UNO, with whom he entered into battle. I have repeatedly come out with the initiative to reburial my grandfather in Russia and to erect a monument to him. I wrote an appeal to the president, my letter was forwarded to the Russian Foreign Ministry, and there they refused. The monument to Nikolai Fyodorovich in Kiev has not yet been demolished, but it seems that everything is heading towards this, since the circumstances of his death at the hands of Ukrainian nationalists in Kiev are well known to everyone, and this fact is annoying for many", - said Alexander Vatutin.

However, instead of a monument to Vatutin, the Moscow City Duma approved the installation of a monument to the ex-head of the Ministry of Emergencies.

“The monument to Yevgeny Zinichev will be erected for political reasons. The commission on monumental art of the Moscow City Duma, which unanimously voted in favor, includes people who do not have an independent public position. Behind them are teams, projects, so they make decisions based on the benefits for their main activities. At the same time, they are not responsible for their decisions. This commission has long agreed exclusively with the officialdom. I had a chance to communicate with this commission under the Moscow City Duma in connection with the idea of erecting a monument to the architect Lev Kekushev. But the commission responded as expected. Say, bet for your money, the city doesn't have it. The Commission on Monumental Art under the Moscow City Duma is not a place where decisions are made, it is a place where people simply vote", - historian Natalya Samover explained to Novye Izvestia.

There are many cases in the world when monuments erected with public money became symbols of cities and even countries. For example, the world-famous symbol of Rio de Janeiro - the statue of Jesus - was built with the money of ordinary Brazilians. The monument is huge, its height is 38 meters. The monument was built for almost 9 years, the collection of money was announced in the press, as a result, 2.2 million reais were collected.

The symbol of freedom and democracy in America - the Statue of Liberty - was also built with public money. Lady Liberty was a gift from French citizens on the occasion of the centenary of the American Revolution. Funds for its construction were raised both in France and in the United States. Another world famous monument built with the help of collective funding is Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square in London.

In Russia, with folk funds, some of the most famous masterpieces of monumental art were built. For example, the Cathedral of Christ the Savior began to be built in the reign of Alexander I in the early 19th century by the project of the artist Karl Magnus Vitberg, and this very first project collected significant donations from the people. For the monument to Pushkin on Pushkin Square in Moscow, money was collected on the initiative of graduates of the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum; over 20 years, 106 thousand rubles were collected. The monument to Gogol on Nikitsky Boulevard in Moscow was also built with public money, the necessary amount - 70 thousand rubles - was collected in 16 years. For the first monument to Lomonosov in Arkhangelsk, the sum of just over 50 thousand rubles was collected faster: in less than 3 years...

It seems that the monuments to the heroes of the Great Patriotic War, which are now being erected with folk funds, are a kind of "popular response" to the semi-official history that is being imposed, but which does not find the proper response in the hearts of people.

“People began to erect monuments themselves, at their own expense. Not so long ago I visited Yakhroma, and on the hill I saw a modest monument in the form of a five-pointed star. They explained to me that this monument was erected by the locals themselves in honor of the heroes of the Great Patriotic War. The artistic merit of such monuments is not so important, in my opinion. But in them is the spiritual impulse of people, and this is much more important. The monument to Nikolai Vatutin is definitely needed. The defense of Moscow is largely his merit. What's stopping this? No money left? Well, it's somehow strange for us, we collect money for the treatment of dying children on the Internet, for monuments to the heroes of the Great Patriotic War - we also throw off the whole world, because there is no money in the treasury. And what are they for?", - says the historian Natalya Samover.

And it’s also good for our officials to learn: the memory of a person is never born by order.