Photo:
TASS
Former Russian Prime Minister Sergei Stepashin said that in 1998, Boris Yeltsin, who was then President of the Russian Federation, ordered to demolish the mausoleum of Vladimir Lenin. About Stepashin, according to “Interfax”, said in an interview with “Historian”.
According to the former Prime Minister, an order to liquidate the mausoleum Yeltsin gave it to him. Then Stepashin was the head of the interior Ministry, and Yeltsin instructed the Ministry to ensure order. However, Stepashin said that after the demolition of the mausoleum, the people will rise against the government, and began to convince Yeltsin to refuse this idea.
Stepashin, in particular, told the President that the burial of Lenin has not yet come. According to him, Yeltsin did not immediately, but agreed with his arguments.
In April deputies of the state Duma from “United Russia” and LDPR has drafted a bill on the legal mechanism of burial of the remains of Lenin. The document represents amendments to the law “About burial”. The parliamentarians called for the creation of the interdepartmental Commission, which will deal with the issue of reburial of the remains of historical figures. Deputies noted that there is no legal basis for the reburial of Lenin, and they have developed a document can change this situation.
Previously, “Levada-Center” conducted a survey according to which more than half of Russians believe that Lenin’s body should be buried. According to 32 percent of the respondents, his grave should be located at the Kremlin wall, and another 26 percent of respondents support the burial of Lenin at the Volkov cemetery in St. Petersburg. The body of Lenin lies in the Mausoleum on red square since 1924.
The idea of burying Lenin criticized Communist party leader Gennady Zyuganov. He described the initiative as a challenge to all Russians and “major” provocation against the state. The politician said that Lenin was buried “so properly”. He recalled that in Russia there are two statutory forms of burial – the grave and the crypt.