State Duma statement regarding the initiative to dismantle the monument to the Soviet soldier-liberator “Alyosha” in the city of Plovdiv (Bulgaria)

”Deputies of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation express the utmost resentment regarding the provocative and cynical proposal of the members of the Plovdiv Municipal Council from the party “Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria” (DSB) to dismantle the monument to the Soviet soldier-liberator “Alyosha” by the end of 2024.

The DSB party, known for its rabid Russophobia, is a consistent supporter of Bulgaria’s pro-Western orientation and its active participation in all NATO initiatives. It was the government of the founder of the DSB party, Ivan Kostov, that provided Bulgaria’s airspace for NATO air strikes against Yugoslavia in 1999, despite numerous protests by Bulgarian citizens.

Another reckless stunt by representatives of the DSB party is a blatant demonstration of disdain for the history of their country, a despicable attempt to desecrate the common historical memory of our fraternal peoples, a manic and desperate attempt to belittle the heroic feat of Soviet soldiers, the decisive contribution of the USSR and the Soviet people in the fight against Nazism during the Second World War.

This barbaric initiative, if supported by the Plovdiv Municipal Council, will bring great shame to both the initiators and the legislative and executive authorities of the city and will clearly demonstrate the inadequacy and political short-sightedness of the Plovdiv authorities.

It is well known in Bulgaria that the prototype of the monument “Alyosha”, erected on the initiative of the Bulgarian people, was the Red Army soldier Aleksey Ivanovich Skurlatov, holder of two Orders of the Red Star, a native of Altai, who in 1944 participated in the restoration of telephone communication between Sofia and Plovdiv. In August 1982, Aleksey Ivanovich Skurlatov was welcomed in Plovdiv with great honours as a national hero and was awarded the title of honorary citizen of the city.

The barbaric war unleashed in the West against Soviet-era monuments is, in fact, a testament to the inferiority and helplessness of the current Western so-called elites, who regularly demonstrate total incompetence and incapacity in addressing key issues on the domestic and international agenda.

We urge the members of the Plovdiv Municipal Council not to take the lead of provocateurs and to make the necessary efforts to preserve cultural and historical monuments and other objects of material and spiritual culture in accordance with the agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Republic of Bulgaria on co-operation in the field of culture, education, and science.

We express our confidence that the residents not only of Plovdiv, but also of Bulgaria as a whole will, as they have done before, speak out in defence of the “Alyosha” monument, defend it and preserve the memory of the heroic deeds of the heroes of the Great Victory over fascism, which is sacred to the fraternal peoples of Russia and Bulgaria“.