The local authorities okayed the removal of the monument to Vladimir Lenin from the central square of the Belarusian town of Smarhon.
As statue was in disrepair, it was dismantled on April 18 in the run-up to the preparation for the regional harvest festival, local media report.
“This monument is of no architectural or other value. It is made of cement which has started to break down as time passed,” Hanna Zhumkova, Head of the department of ideology, culture and youth affairs of Smarhon District Executive Committee, told Nasha Niva.
The officials are about to have the monument restored, but there will not be any place for it in the square anymore.
Vladimir Lenin (1870-1924) was the leader of the October Revolution, a founders of the USSR, initiator and organiser of Red Terror. During the Civil War, on the territory of the former Russian Empire there was mass terror carried out against certain social classes and all Bolsheviks who were dissatisfied with the rule of the Bolsheviks.
Soon after the death of Vladimir Lenin, Communists established the cult of his personality. Unfortunately, it has survived until today in the form of street names and monuments across several post-Soviet countries. The cult is supported by Alyaksandr Lukashenka and his associates.
