Authorities in Volgograd plan to build a memorial complex devoted to the war in Ukraine at the foot of Mamayev Kurgan. The project has been approved by a committee under the regional governor. According to the local outlet V1, the site between the memorial and the Volgograd Arena stadium is to include a monument to the heroes of the “SMO” and a separate building for what officials describe as Russia’s first standalone museum dedicated to this war.
Aleksey Dementyev, director of the Stalingrad Battle museum-reserve, said the complex would cover about 800 square meters, with roughly 700 square meters allocated to the exhibition. Officials plan to display soldiers’ personal belongings and letters, as well as materials on key events of the war. Dementyev said the collection is being assembled with the participation of security agencies, the Investigative Committee, the National Guard, and relatives of “SMO” participants.
Dementyev said the museum’s main purpose is to “perpetuate the feat of the participants of the SMO”; the exhibition is also expected to include sections on the background to the war, the tragedy of civilians in Donbas, and the referendums on the accession of new regions.
The monument, which its creators say is meant to become the largest of its kind in Russia, is planned to be about 7 meters high and 14 meters long. The model was designed by the Mitrofan Grekov Studio of Military Artists. It depicts a soldier along with figures of an assault trooper, grenade launcher operator, drone operator, military nurse, sniper, and civilians. According to the authors, drafting the design and cost documentation cost about 1 million rubles, while the full construction cost has not been disclosed.
On social media, some residents criticized the plan, saying new structures are inappropriate on the grounds of the Stalingrad Battle memorial. Yevgeny Kochegin, founder of the Telegram channel Dozor v Volgograde, told Novaya Gazeta Europe that many people are skeptical specifically because of the location. Historian Konstantin Pakhalyuk told the outlet that, in his view, the authorities are trying to draw a symbolic parallel between the current war and World War II.
Mamayev Kurgan is tied to one of the bloodiest battles of World War II: the Battle of Stalingrad fought there in 1942–1943. The memorial complex, opened in 1967, contains mass and individual graves of more than 35,000 defenders of Stalingrad. At the same time, museums devoted to the “SMO” are already opening in other Russian regions, and their further expansion is being discussed at the federal level.