Support The Moscow Times!

Communists’ Religious Feelings Were Violated by Proposal to Replace Lenin’s Body, Party Official Says

Moskva News Agency

A Communists of Russia party official has called for the criminal prosecution of a regional lawmaker for insulting religious believers by calling to bury Lenin’s preserved body.

Lenin’s body was temporarily embalmed and put on display for mourners to pay their respects to the Soviet leader for four days after his death in January 1924. The Soviet government then moved Lenin’s body to a mausoleum on Red Square and decided to preserve it almost two months later. A debate has since raged over what to do with the Bolshevik revolutionary’s corpse.

Vladimir Petrov, a lawmaker in the Leningrad region, reignited the debate about Lenin’s preserved body two weeks ago by suggesting that it be buried on the 100-year anniversary of the Bolshevik leader’s death in 2024 and replaced with a rubber or wax replica in his mausoleum.

Sergei Malinkovich, the central committee secretary of the Communists of Russia political party, said the proposal had violated Russia’s Criminal Code by insulting religious feelings and inciting hatred, the MBKh Media news site reported Tuesday.

“Our lawyers concluded that two Criminal Code articles could have been violated,” Malinkovich was quoted as saying.

“If you count supporters of Marxism-Leninism as the followers of an ideology, then of course he [Petrov] insulted them all,” he added.

The Communists of Russia is a separate organization from the more popular Communist Party of Russia (KPRF). It fielded the least-popular candidate in Russian presidential elections earlier this year.

Malinkovich told MBKh Media that the party plans to “keep hounding” Petrov for his public remarks. ”He clearly wants to insult and humiliate Communists in public,” he was quoted as saying.

Sign up for our free weekly newsletter

Our weekly newsletter contains a hand-picked selection of news, features, analysis and more from The Moscow Times. You will receive it in your mailbox every Friday. Never miss the latest news from Russia. Preview
Subscribers agree to the Privacy Policy

A Message from The Moscow Times:

Dear readers,

We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."

These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.

We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.

Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.

By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.

Once
Monthly
Annual
Continue
paiment methods
Not ready to support today?
Remind me later.

Read more