Zaporizhia communists and veterans raising funds for new monument to Stalin

Zaporizhia communists and veterans of the Second World War have started raising funds for a new monument to Soviet-era dictator Joseph Stalin.

"The cost of a new monument to Stalin will be several times higher than cost of the previous one worth UAH 80,000. We will find funds for the monument, and this will be about UAH 300,000-400,000, so that the monument can be solid and better protected," first secretary of Zaporizhia regional committee of the Communist Party Oleksandr Baburin said at a press conference in Zaporizhia on Tuesday.

"We will raise money again and erect a new monument to our commander. I discussed this with my family and I contributed the first donation for the new monument – UAH 3,000," a veteran of the Second World War, Oleksiy Popov, said.

The veterans also said that the construction of a new monument to Stalin for them is a question of principle, and that’s why they refused to comment on the possibility of provocations.

The monument to Stalin was erected in Zaporizhia on the territory of the regional branch of the Communist Party in May 2010. Unknown persons beheaded the monument to Stalin on December 28 and blew up the monument on New Year's Eve on December 31. The monument was completely destroyed when an explosive charge was detonated, and the party’s building sustained serious damage. The communists claimed that they had suffered over UAH 230,000 worth of property damage. The police opened a criminal case under Part 2, Article 194 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (the deliberate destruction of property by arson, explosion or in any other dangerous way).