Stepashin said about the order of Yeltsin to demolish the Lenin mausoleum
According to the former Prime Minister, he managed to convince the President not to do it.
Moscow. April 26. INTERFAX.RU — Former Prime Minister Sergei Stepashin said in an interview with “Historian” about how in 1998 the then Russian President Boris Yeltsin instructed him to demolish the mausoleum of Vladimir Lenin.
“Me Boris was instructed to demolish the mausoleum. It was 1998,” said Stepashin. At the time he was head of the interior Ministry and was in business trip in the UK.
Come, go to him, and in the Cabinet Yeltsin says: Mr Stepashin, I made a decision to demolish the Lenin mausoleum. I said, Well, MIA here with? He said that the interior Ministry should ensure the order.Sergei Stepashin
“Well, say, — I understand, I am the Minister and shall comply with the orders of the Supreme commander. The only thing Boris, don’t guarantee that after this act I will remain a Minister, and you, President,” — said Stepashin, adding that began to convince Yeltsin that it is not necessary to demolish the mausoleum.
“Christian, of course, Lenin’s corpse can not be shown. It is a sin. But now is not the time to remove the mausoleum, is not necessary. What, is he stopping you?” Yeltsin grumbled, but my arguments are heard, — said Stepashin.
The embalmed body of the leader of the Russian revolution is stored in the mausoleum is 93 years old. Last week representatives of LDPR and “United Russia” in the Duma introduced a bill to establish a Commission for the reburial of Lenin from the mausoleum. Later, however, the representatives of the parliamentary majority signed the bill withdrawn.
As shown by a recent survey of “Levada-Centre”, more than half of Russians believe that Lenin’s body should be buried: 32% propose to do that at the Kremlin wall, and 26% at the Volkov cemetery in St. Petersburg. About a third of respondents (31%) believe that his remains should be left in the mausoleum.