Monument to Russian soldier Alyosha desecrated again in Bulgaria

Residents of Burgas explained why they do not abandon Russian culture

In Bulgaria, the fight against the monuments of the Soviet era does not stop. After the start of the special operation in Ukraine, she radically painted the monument to the Russian soldier Alyosha in Burgas with anti-Russian slogans. The local authorities stated that it was not possible to quickly remove the paint from the sculpture “due to lack of funding. When the money was found, the memorial was put in order. However, after some time, the vandals again spoiled Alyosha.

Our correspondent visited Burgas and saw that new inscriptions appeared on the obelisk.

We spoke with local residents about the current situation.

In Bulgaria, the monument to the Soviet army erected in Burgas has once again been desecrated. The locals call this monument “Alyosha’s younger brother”. The most famous monument to a Russian soldier in Bulgaria is located in Plovdiv. By the way, it was going to be demolished three times: in 1989, 1993 and 1996. But the Bulgarian Supreme Court banned the demolition of the historic site.

After that, the radicals took up the monument in Burgas.

The fight against Burgas sculpture began long before the special operation. “This monument is a symbol of the bygone dictatorship and has no cultural and historical value,” representatives of the “Protection of Bulgarian Citizens” organization argued their position and demanded that the local authorities remove Alyosha from Burgas. Some famous Bulgarian was proposed to be placed on the pedestal.

Supporters of this initiative failed to collect the 1,000 signatures required by law for the demolition of the monument. The monument survived.

We are now collecting signatures again. So far without success.

Alyosha’s monument is located on the central square of Burgas. The pedestrian street that leads to the sculpture is filled with people in the evenings.

On the day of my arrival, young people were sitting on the pedestal. There were women walking around with children.

Now two large inscriptions are drawn on the monument with red paint: “Decommunization” and “Iskame bulgaski monument”, which means “We want a Bulgarian monument”.

– You don’t need to take pictures of it, it’s better to take it off the front side, they haven’t ruined the monument yet, – said a random passer-by, – This is done by uneducated youth, most Bulgarians won’t think of it.

The monument has already been painted three times. Local authorities covered up, and then great again. Putting the monument in order costs decent money, apparently, the authorities do not want to shell out for it. Looks like they’ve already given up. For example, this inscription is three months old, no one pays attention.

– Did you manage to catch the vandals?

– Of course not, no one will do it. There are no video surveillance cameras here, and no one is going to put policemen near the monument either. I ask you to write that the Bulgarians are for Russia, they remember good things about the Soviet Union.

– Are there many Russians in the city?

– Full. And there are many Ukrainians.

– Everyone, probably, swear among themselves?

– Come on, no one here swears anymore. Everyone understands everything, they do not believe what they say on our TV. The majority of Bulgarians support Russia, especially the older generation.

I do not understand why they became attached to Alyosha. For example, no one touches the monument to Pushkin, he stands quietly in our park. And in general, Russian culture is not going to be abandoned here.

The interlocutor is right. In the city center, I saw a poster for the Swan Lake ballet. A little further is the Masha and the Bear toy store. T-shirts with “USSR” print are sold in street stalls. “In our country, such T-shirts are in high demand not only among tourists, but also among locals,” the owner of the shop commented on the availability of goods.

And in the Bulgarian souvenir shop you can see magnets with the image of Putin and the caption: “They won’t catch up with us.”

Noticing my interest, the seller smiled: “We have plenty of goods with Russian symbols. There are not only magnets with your president, but also T-shirts, beach towels, bags. You need?”