Kyrgyzstan removes towering Lenin statue from second city
The 23-meter (75-foot) monument was erected in 1975 when Kyrgyzstan was part of the Soviet Union. Photos appeared online Saturday showing the statue flat on the ground after being lowered by a crane.
While many countries formerly part of the Soviet Union have moved to downplay their ties to Russia as part of efforts to reshape national identity, the monument was taken down with little public fanfare and officials in Osh framed the removal as routine city planning.
In a statement, Osh City Hall called the move 'common practice' aimed at improving the 'architectural and aesthetic appearance' of the area.
Officials also noted that Lenin monuments have been 'dismantled or moved to other places' in Russian cities including St Petersburg and Belgorod, and said that the issue 'should not be politicized.'
The monument, they said, will be replaced by a flagpole, as was the case when a different Lenin statue was relocated in the capital, Bishkek.
The move came a week after Kyrgyzstan's ally Russia unveiled a monument to brutal Soviet dictator Josef Stalin at one of Moscow's busiest subway stations.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
26 minutes ago
- The Independent
How the EU aims to put the squeeze on the Russian economy with new sanctions package
The European Union's 18th sanctions package against Russia over its war in Ukraine targets Moscow's energy and financial sectors to limit its ability to fund war in Ukraine. Key measures include a lower oil price cap, Nord Stream transaction ban, more shadow fleet sanctions, and a full ban on Russian bank deals. 'We are striking at the heart of Russia 's war machine,' EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said in a post on X. 'The pressure is on. It will stay on until Putin ends this war.' The measures are intended to ramp up pressure on Russia amid flagging peace negotiations, as well as targeting companies and countries that allow Moscow to evade existing sanctions. They were approved on Friday after weeks of delay caused by repeated Slovakian and Maltese vetoes over natural gas and shipping respectively. Here, The Independent looks at the key measures and their potential impact on the Russian economy. Lower oil price cap The EU will impose a moving price cap on Russian crude at 15 percent below its average market price, EU diplomats said. At present this sets the cap at about $47.60 per barrel, well below the $60 maximum that the G7 have tried to impose since December 2022. A fall in oil futures made the $60 cap largely symbolic. The cap bans trade of Russian crude above the set maximum, prohibiting shipping, insurance and reinsurance companies from handling tankers carrying it. It is designed to limit Moscow's crude revenues, the cornerstone of its war coffers and economy, to make it harder to fund the war without disrupting the global oil market by cutting off supply entirely. The EU has limited powers to enforce the measure due to US resistance. Oil is largely traded in dollars with payment clearing controlled by US banks. So far Russia has been able to sell most of its oil as the current mechanism does not specify who should police its implementation. Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Turkey and India have also both continued to import Russian oil and refine it into products which are sent on to the EU. The EU will no longer import any petroleum products made from Russian crude, although the ban will not apply to imports from Norway, Britain, the US, Canada and Switzerland, EU diplomats said. Shadow fleet A further 105 vessels have been banned from accessing EU ports and locks, and undertaking ship-to-ship transfers of oils. The measure aims to shut down the so-called shadow fleet of older oil tankers transporting Russian oil and evading sanctions. The rise of a vast shadow fleet has been helping Moscow maintain its crude exports, keeping revenue flowing. The EU has now sanctioned more than 400 shadow fleet ships. Nord Stream gas pipelines ban Transactions related to Russia's Nord Stream gas pipelines will be banned, including any provisions of goods or services to these projects. A network of natural gas pipelines run under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany and were thought to represent Berlin's over-reliance on Moscow for energy. They were disabled after 2022 explosions damaged three of them. But reports in the Financial Times in March suggested that Kremlin-linked Russian and US business people were seeking their reactivation. Financial sector A full ban on all transactions with Russian financial institutions - already excluded from the Swift interbank messaging system - will come into place. The ban extends to transactions with Russia's sovereign wealth fund, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), and its investments. The move aims to further restrict Russia's access to international financial markets and foreign currency. The EU also lowered the threshold for slapping sanctions on international financial and credit institutions which circumvent sanctions or support Russia's war effort. For example, by circumventing the oil price cap. 'We are putting more pressure on Russia's military industry, Chinese banks that enables sanctions evasion, and blocking tech exports used in drones,' EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said in a post on X, without providing further details or names. When asked about the sanctions, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia has built up a certain 'immunity' to Western sanctions and adapted to them. Peskov called the sanctions illegal, saying every new restriction created negative consequences for those countries that backed them.
BBC News
26 minutes ago
- BBC News
UK sanctions Russian spies for 'malicious' cyber activity
A number of Russian spies have been sanctioned for conducting a "sustained campaign of malicious cyber activity" including in the UK, the Foreign Office has military intelligence units from Russia's GRU espionage agency and 18 officers have had sanctions placed on them for "spreading chaos and disorder on [Russian President Vladimir] Putin's orders". UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy linked the activity to the UK's continued support of Ukraine, and said GRU spies were "running a campaign to destabilise Europe".Separately, the European Union placed its "strongest sanctions" yet on Russia, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called "essential and timely". The latest EU measures, announced on Friday, included a ban on transactions related to the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline and lowering a cap on the price at which Russian oil can be UK joined the move to lower the price cap, with Chancellor Rachel Reeves saying Europe was "turning the screw on the Kremlin's war chest".They come as European allies hope to ratchet up the pressure on Russia to bring the three-year-long war in Ukraine to an former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, a close ally of Putin, said his nation's economy would survive the sanctions and that Moscow will continue striking Ukraine "with increasing force".The EU sanctions are the 18th round of such measures since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in UK Foreign Office said one of the intelligence units it had sanctioned - Unit 26165 - had been involved in targeting Mariupol, including a strike that hit the Ukrainian city's theatre, killing hundreds of said it had also placed measures on intelligence officers who placed spyware on the phone of Yulia Skripal, who with her father was targeted by suspected Russian agents in Salisbury with the nerve agent Foreign Office added that Russia had targeted UK media organisations, telecoms companies, energy infrastructure and political institutions."The Kremlin should be in no doubt: we see what they are trying to do in the shadows and we won't tolerate it," Lammy said in a statement. "Putin's hybrid threats and aggression will never break our resolve."People or entities that are sanctioned can face a range of restrictions, including having financial assets leaders are also looking for the US to place further pressure on this week, Donald Trump threatened Russia with severe tariffs if a peace deal was not reached within 50 days. The US president has become increasingly impatient with Putin. The Foreign Office also announced sanctions on three leaders of the "African Initiative", a social media campaign it said was founded, funded and employed by Russia to conduct disinformation operations in West Africa.
Reuters
2 hours ago
- Reuters
Russia convicts dozens for anti-Israel riots at Dagestan airport two years ago
MOSCOW, July 18 (Reuters) - Russian courts sentenced 135 people to lengthy prison sentences in connection with a mass anti-Israel protest in October 2023 at an airport in the predominantly Muslim Dagestan region, the country's Investigative Committee said on Friday. Hundreds of anti-Israel protesters stormed an airport in the city of Makhachkala, where a plane from Tel Aviv had just arrived, in unrest in the North Caucasus over Israel's war against the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza. Investigators said they had collected evidence against 142 people and completed probes into the participation of 139. The three other people - whom investigators said had organised the riots via posts on a Telegram channel - have been put on Russia's wanted list. The 135 convicted people were given prison terms ranging from 6-1/2 to 15 years for participating in mass riots and other crimes. Investigators did not name the people, nor say how they pleaded. Video footage at the time showed the protesters, mostly young men, waving Palestinian flags, breaking down glass doors and running through the airport shouting "Allahu Akbar" (God is greater). More than 20 people were injured before security forces could contain the unrest. No passengers on the plane were hurt. President Vladimir Putin blamed the West and Ukraine for the unrest, without providing evidence. Kyiv denied any role and the United States strongly condemned the violence.
