In Kyiv, the bust of Chkalov was demolished, and in Belarus they were installed

The grandson of the pilot told about the call Klitschko

In the capital of Belarus, a monument was opened to the famous test pilot, a native of the Nizhny Novgorod region, the hero of the Soviet Union Valery Chkalov. The memorial bust appeared on the historical site, where the airport “Minsk-1” was once located, and now the oldest and most prestigious city school operates. Nizhny Novgorod Governor Gleb Nikitin attended the opening. Moskovsky Komsomolets contacted the grandson of the Russian aviation legend, who was named after his grandfather – Valery Chkalov.

In February, the bust of pilot Valery Chkalov was demolished in Kyiv. The Soviet hero was an eyesore to the Ukrainian authorities, so they decided to remove the monument to him out of sight. Allegedly, the monument was delivered to the aviation museum for storage. However, where the bust is actually located is unknown even to the grandson of the pilot.

But in Belarus, the memory of the hero is treated with reverence.

“School No. 1 on Chkalov Street in Minsk asked the family to give the green light so that it could be called by the name of Chkalov,” says the grandson of the famous pilot Valery Chkalov, “The Nizhny Novgorod government paid for the creation of the monument. Today at 16:00 it was installed near the school.

I am proud that people remember their heroes, because Chkalov is the history of our country. This is not even a question of saving monuments, but a question of saving our great and powerful history, about which Valery Pavlovich was also worried, – says Chkalov, – All these records were not set in order to become famous, the pilots did not think about it, they thought about to glorify the country. We have always been the coolest aviation powerhouse, and then someone tried to sell the country to Boeings and Airbuses. Now, it seems, they are again engaged in native aviation. ”

– Is the fate of the monument in Ukraine now known?

– I spoke with the mayor of Kyiv Vitali Klitschko about the demolition. I called him and he picked up the phone. The conversation was about nothing, he tried to justify himself, saying that the Ukrainian people demanded it, but in fact he simply did not know how to get out. I asked him to give a monument to the family, said that he was even ready to send a car. He said, they say, there is no need to rush, that we will always have time to pick him up. He offered to write him a letter, and he would consider it. And that is all.

In Odessa, there was also a monument to Valery Pavlovich. I also don’t know what is happening to him now – the mayor of Odessa does not get in touch.

– And in Minsk they remember Chkalov. Valery Pavlovich during his service made many sorties over the territory of Soviet Belarus.

– I will say more: In 1945, my father, the son of Valery Pavlovich, Igor Valeryevich Chkalov, served in the Brest Fortress and sorted out its ruins, buried the defenders of our country who died there. Belarus is quite an expensive place for us. And what is happening today is probably a pattern.