Misc Statuary
| Lenins | Stalins
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I was startled when I ran across my first Lenin "in the wild" in Kazakhstan, complete with fresh red flowers. I had vaguely assumed that Lenin had been swept into the dustbin of history, and his statues with him. But no, he still typically retains a prominent place in most of the major cities of Russia, and in scattered other parts of the former USSR. I've now seen him in about eighty cities, from Brest to Vladivostok.
The presence of Lenin is often a clue to how a country feels about the Soviet heritage and about today's Russia. He has vanished from public spaces in the Baltic republics, relegated to museum cellars. He remains prominent in Russia, Belarus and Transdniester. In some countries he is mostly absent, but occasionally surfaces in districts with a strong ethnic Russian presence, such as the Crimea, or Karaganda in Kazakhstan or Khojand in Tajikistan. And finally, for no good reason, he shows up in Seattle.
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| Almaty, Kazakhstan (2016) Exiled to a small suburban park. |
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| Ashgabat, Turkmenistan (2008) With a beautiful Central Asian plinth. |
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| Astrakhan, Russia (2011) Looking rather starry-eyed. |
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| Baikonur, Kazakhstan (2010) Getting ready to welcome 2011. |
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| Balaklava, Ukraine (2011) Hiding among the trees. |
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| Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan (2008) Formerly in the main square, now banished to a quiet side street. |
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| Bratsk, Russia (2019) |
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| Brest, Belarus (2010) |
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| Chelyabinsk, Russia (2013) |
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| Chernobyl, Ukraine (2014) |
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| Delhi, India (2014) Unveiled during Gorbachev's 1987 visit. |
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| Derbent, Russia (2013) |
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| Elista, Russia (2014) Looking skeptical in Buddhist Elista. |
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| Ekaterinburg, Russia (2013) |
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| Hanoi, Vietnam (2017) |
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| Havana, Cuba (2014) Giant Lenin head, Parque Lenin. With a laudatory quote from Fidel. |
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| Havana, Cuba (2014) At Colina Lenin (Lenin Hill) |
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| Irkutsk, Russia (2009) |
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| Kaliningrad, Russia (2018) |
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| Karaganda, Kazakhstan (2008) My first Lenin sighting "in the wild". |
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| Kazan State University, Russia (2013)My favorite Lenin, showing him as a student at the Kazan State University. |
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| Kazan, Russia (2013) From student to Demigod. |
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| Kerch, Ukraine (2011) |
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| Khabarovsk, Russia (2019) |
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| Khabarovsk, Russia (2019) Encouraging a Red Army soldier |
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| Kharkiv, Ukraine (2014) |
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| Kherson, Ukraine (2011) |
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| Khojand, Tajikistan (2009) A giant silvery statue in Khojand, formerly Leninabad, formerly Alexandria-the-furthest, on the Jaxartes. |
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| Khorog, Tajikistan (2016) Hidden down a minor street. |
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| Kiev, Ukraine (2009) An unexpected discovery in Kiev, lurking in the street outside my hotel. |
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| Komsomolsk-na-Amure (2019) |
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| Korolev City, Russia (2013) A rare white Lenin. |
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| Krasnoyarsk, Russia (2019) Brash and dominating |
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| Krasnoyarsk, Russia (2019) Studious and thoughtful |
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| Magnitogrosk, Russia (2013) In the snow, at the Steelworks Gates |
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| Makhachkala, Russia (2013) |
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| Minsk, Belarus (2009) At the bar of history? |
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| Moscow, Kaluga Square (2013) |
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| Moscow, VDNKh (2018) |
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| Murghab, Tajikistan (2016) Pointing to the Pamirs |
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| Murmansk, Russia (2011)Grimly resolute in the twilight of a mid-winter afternoon |
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| Nizhny Novgorod, Russia (2009) |
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| Novgorod the Great, Russia (2011) |
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| Novorossiysk, Russia (2011) In a casual mood. |
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| Novosibirsk, Russia (2009)"Lenin and Acolytes Directing Traffic" |
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| Nurek, Tajikistan (2009) Lurking nervously just downsteam of a giant Soviet hydroelectric dam. |
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| Odessa, Ukraine (2011) |
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| Omsk, Russia (2009)Looking particularly wise, and strangely Asiatic. |
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| Orenburg, Russia (2013) |
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| Orsk Russia (2013) Relaxed, human, and slightly green. |
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| Osh, Kyrgyzstan (2008) |
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| Pavlodar, Kazakhstan (2019) |
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| Perm, Russia (2018) |
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| Pinsk, Belarus (2010) Looking crude and grumpy in Pinsk. |
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| Rostov, Russia (2010) |
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| Ryazan, Russia (2010) |
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| St Petersburg, Finland Station (2009)There's a famous Lenin statue at the Finland Station in St Petersburg. But it suffered bomb damage shortly before my 2009 visit, and was off for repairs, leaving only a boarded-up plinth. |
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| St Petersburg, Lenin at the Finland Station (2011)Restored and reinvigorated in 2011. |
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| St Petersburg, Moskovskaya Pl. (2011) |
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| Samara, Russia (2013) Looking relaxed and cheerful. |
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| Saratov, Russia (2013) |
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| Semey, Kazakhstan (2019) A bronze titan, dominating a small park |
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| Sevastopol, Ukraine (2011) |
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| Shymkent, Kazakhstan (2016) |
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| Smolensk, Russia (2010) Snowy but resolute. |
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| Sochi, Russia (2010) With one of Sochi's palm trees. |
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| Sovetskaya-Gavan, Russia (2019) |
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| Stavropol, Russia (2014) |
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| Suzdal, Russia (2010) |
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| Tiraspol, Transdniester (2009) |
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| Tomsk, Russia (2009) |
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| Tula, Russia (2013) |
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| Tynda, Russia (2019) |
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| Ulan Bator, Mongolia (2011) |
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| Ulan Ude, Russia (2011) "The World's Largest Lenin Head" |
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| Ulyanovsk, Russia (2013) The prophet in his home town. |
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| Infant Lenin & Mother, Ulyanovsk (2013) |
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| Vladimir, Russia (2010) Waiting for the Bank? |
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| Vladikavkaz, Russia (2011) Looking rather sombre. |
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| Vladivostok, Russia (2009)"Marxism needs YOU, comrade!" |
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| Volgograd, Russia (2011) A particularly grand Lenin in Stalingrad. |
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| Voronezh, Russia (2014) |
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| Yalta, Ukraine (2011) Looking cheerful at the seaside. |
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| Yaroslaval, Russia (2018) |
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| Yaroslaval, Russia (2018) Unusually thoughtful, reading a notebook |
Oddities and Empty Plinths
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| Bratislava, Slovakia (2009)In Bratislava's "KGB Bar", looking both festive and rather the worse for wear. |
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| Seattle, USA (2009) Lurking uneasily outside a Taco del Mar at 600 N 36th Street. What is he doing here? |
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| Kiev, Ukraine (2014) |
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| Sukhumi, Abkhazia (2010) |
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| Zhytomyr, Ukraine (2014) Now commemorating the dead of the Kiev Maidan |
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| Vanino, Russia (2019) |
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Misc Statuary
| Stalins
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