Moscow Statues

Moscow is full of statues.  Many of the Soviet-era statues have been removed or relocated, however there has been a great variety new statues installed, which tend to hearken back to the old Imperial days.  

First up is St Vladimir, who can be found opposite the SW corner of the Kremlin. Vladimir was the leader of the Rus who converted his people to Orthodox Christianity; this is one of the relatively new statues, it was only installed in 2016.

And here is Charles de Gaulle, in front of the Cosmos Hotel, close to my wife's family's apartment.

Here is a monument to Tsar Alexander II, known as the 'Liberator' since he abolished serfdom.  Post-Soviet, obviously, this one dates to 2005.

Here is a series of photos of the huge Peter the Great statue, dating to 1997.  It's quite impressive, but apparently there are quite mixed feelings about it in Moscow.  It's huge (98 m), as you can see in this photo:

 Arthur is a fan!

 Here is a character from a Russian fable:

We went to a park with lots of older, Soviet-era statuary.  Not sure what these ones represent!

A selection of Lenins:

Iron Felix Dzherzhinski, who has been moved from his former home in front of the KGB headquarters in Lyubyanka Square.

Heroic Soviet hero beating his sword into a plow:

Umm, not sure?  

Lenin in Oktoberskaya Square:

Sort of a statue, the gold fountain at VDNKha:

 Moscow's version of the Arc de Triomphe

Memorial to WWII allies, with French, Russian, American and British soldiers:

Holocaust memorial

Heroes of Chernobyl memorial: 

One of my favourites, heroic Soviet worker launching a Sputnik by throwing it into space!

The next selection of statues is from the boulevard ring around central Moscow.  First up, Engineer Shukhov.

Russian singer and poet from the '70s.  (don't remember his name)

Pushkin!  (complete with pigeon)

And Gogol

Gogol again - legend has it that this statue climbs off his pedestal at night and walks around.

Here is Sholokov, author of Tikhy Don (And Quiet Flows the Don)

Catherine the Great statue at Kolomenskaya Palace:

And one last Soviet-era statue, worker and farmer statue at VDNKha (very big, 28 m tall)