“We are not installing a monument to Dzerzhinsky on Lubyanka, but returning it”
The Moscow prosecutor's office declared illegal the dismantling and relocation of the monument to Felix Dzerzhinsky, which was carried out by protesters opposed to the preservation of the USSR in 1991.
The head of the “Officers of Russia” organization, Sergei Lipovoy, stated this at a round table in Moscow, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“The monument to Dzerzhinsky was demolished illegally. To make sure that we were right and that our public was right, in December 2020 we turned to the Prosecutor General’s Office to give a legal assessment of the events of August 1991. The fact that we received a response from the Moscow prosecutor’s office fully confirms that we were right,” Lipovoy said.
He cited the response from the Moscow prosecutor's office, which stated that as a result of the check, no information was found about the existence of an administrative act by the authorities of the capital of the Russian Federation on the dismantling of the monument to Felix Dzerzhinsky in the summer of 1991.
“I would like to emphasize that the response from the Moscow prosecutor’s office fully proves the illegality of the demolition of the monument. And if we live in a rule of law state, then this legality - historical and legal - must be restored, and Felix Edmundovich must take his rightful place, that is, return to Lubyanka,” Lipovoy emphasized.
“The one who demolishes monuments, most often, wants to demolish the country where these monuments stand... Actually, in one of the parts of Russia, namely in Ukraine, they very diligently destroyed monuments to everyone who was involved in the creation of Ukraine and its separation from the rest of Russia . Precisely in order to pretend that Ukraine is not part of Russia, but something separate,” Russian publicist and political consultant Anatoly Wasserman gave an example.
Alexander Kazakov, a former adviser to the deceased head of the DPR Alexander Zakharchenko, confirmed that Russian liberals, who at one time rejoiced at the fall of Soviet monuments, are behaving like Ukrainian vandals.
“Our opponents from the neoliberal camp, semi-fascist in their style, are trying to present the history of the beginning of the Soviet period like this - there is a small gang of people who can be listed by name, who seized power. Then there was nothing, then - once, we had the 30s, collectivization, industrialization. They constantly keep silent about the fact that it was the country’s choice in 1917 and the army’s choice. The Russian officers, the flower of the nation, are divided in half. People had different images of the future, and they fought over it. But both of them fought for Russia. This pendulum needs to be restored. We are not installing a monument to Dzerzhinsky on Lubyanka, we are returning it,” Kazakov emphasized.
Military historian Armen Gasparyan explained that the monument is important for intelligence officers.
“I want to say on behalf of the most ordinary Muscovite - whether someone likes it or not, this area will always be symbolically associated with the name of Felix Edmundovich, not because the FSB is now located there, but before that there was the KGB or the Cheka. Therefore, the monument must be returned.
We are not even talking about the fact that in this way historical justice for the year 91 will be restored. Maybe, of course, someone is interested in naked revanchism in itself, but from this point of view I have a very simple position. Today, in 2021, in many offices of current FSB employees there is either a bust of Felix Edmundovich or his portrait. They are the legal successors of that same department. Moreover, when we recently celebrated the centenary of state security agencies, it was in 2017, it is easy to guess that the report dates back to December 20, 1917, and not at all from the birth of the special services of the era of the Russian Empire,” the expert said.
“Therefore, stop fooling each other with absolute sophistry, absolute nonsense. It is impossible to replay history. You may like or dislike some events, but this has already happened in history. And Felix Edmundovich occupies a very worthy place in this story.
Therefore, this monument is a tribute to our past and a tribute to the current employees of the Russian state security agencies, who are on duty today, and who do not allow any terrorist infection to enter our territory. Which, excuse me, die in this post, and Dzerzhinsky is their symbol. Therefore, let’s return this monument,” Gasparyan called.
He was supported by the Russian writer and publicist Nikolai Starikov.
“The Hero of the Soviet Union is in any case a hero of the Russian Federation, and a hero of the Russian Empire is a hero for the USSR and for the modern Russian Federation. We must glue the historical fabric together so that there is no possibility of dividing us into parts and thereby weakening us,” he said.
“Felix Dzerzhinsky is a symbol of our special services. Alexander III once said that Russia has two allies - its army and navy. But if we take it upon ourselves to correct our emperor, then Russia has three allies - the army, the navy and the special services.
Therefore, the restoration (I emphasize not the installation of a monument, which allows us to get into discussions about whether it is necessary or not, but the restoration) of the legal location of the monument to Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky is also an act of our common respect for the intelligence officers,” Starikov concluded.
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