Muscovites may soon find it significantly easier to locate their loved ones lost among the city's more than 70 cemeteries as authorities move forward with plans to make each grave GPS-navigable.
Moscow funeral company Ritual told television station M24 that 10 GPS terminals had already been installed at cemeteries around the city, including its most famous burial site next to Novodevichy Convent. The program is expected to be fully implemented by the end of 2015.
Alexander Nemeryuk, head of Moscow's Department of Consumer Goods and Services, told M24 that the city plans to create a registry of World War II soldiers this year. A registry of veterans from other wars will follow next year. Ordinary citizens are unlikely to receive their own registry based on concerns of vandalism.
The Moscow region will also create a unified registry of all graves that will be available online, the Moscow region's minister for consumer goods and services Vladimir Posazhennikov told M24.
Posazhennikov added that the Moscow region would start by creating a registry of veteran's graves featuring information about their time at war before expanding to the general population.
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.
Remind me later.