Rubber doll or wax figure? New idea to ‘replace’ Lenin’s body in mausoleum sparks communist outrage
A Russian politician has floated an idea to replace Vladimir Lenin’s body with a wax – or rubber – replica, while burying the original. The proposal was promptly branded “delusional and provocative” by Russian communists.
The idea to bury the Bolshevik chief has been repeatedly floated since the collapse of the Soviet Union, yet a local legislator Vladimir Petrov from the Leningrad region – oh, the irony – managed to come up with quite a “refreshing” proposal.
Petrov suggested to bury the mummified body of Vladimir Lenin and replace it with an exact copy – made of wax or some sort of “rubber-polymer” compound. Such move would honor Lenin’s last wish to be buried, please those who enjoy Lenin’s stay in the iconic mausoleum, as well as drastically cut the costs on maintaining the facility, according to the politician.
Communists, however, were outraged with Petrov’s idea instead, branding it a “provocation” aimed at sowing dissent in Russian society. The legislator has repeatedly tried to do so and openly expressed “anti-Soviet” views, according to the head of the Communist Party's press service Aleksander Yuschenko.
“It's an absolutely disgraceful, delusional idea. If deputy Petrov still has a fraction of conscience and sensible approach to history, he'll be definitely ashamed of this pseudo-idea,” deputy chief of Russian Communist Party's Central committee Dmitri Novikov told RIA Novosti.
The idea to bury Lenin has been repeatedly expressed by some politicians and activists over the past 30 years, while communists have been strongly opposing it. Backers of the idea commonly cite costs of maintaining the tomb, alleged necessity to “bury” the communist past of the county, Orthodox Christian traditions, as well as other things to advocate Lenin's funeral.
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Authorities, however, distanced themselves from the Lenin burial controversy, explaining that such a move would have little practical value while being potentially offensive to many people.
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