Kremlin-appointed Khabarovsk governor believes monuments to Vladimir Putin should be erected ‘wherever possible’ across Russia

The acting head of Russia's far-eastern Khabarovsk Region, Moscow-appointee Mikhail Degtyarev, believes that monuments to President Vladimir Putin should be put up “wherever possible,” across the country and especially in Crimea.

In an interview with Ekaterinburg-based outlet Znak published on Wednesday, Degtyarev, a member of the far-right opposition LDPR party, claimed that Putin is in the league of former Russian tsars Ivan the Terrible and Peter the Great, both of whom expanded the country's territory.

“I believe that we should put up monuments to him wherever possible,” Degtyarev said. “First of all, in Crimea. Two million people are alive, healthy and happy because they voted in the referendum, and he took the responsibility to make a political decision.”

Crimea was re-absorbed into Russia in March 2014, following the Kiev Maidan, which violently overthrew the democratically elected government of Ukraine. The vote is not recognized by most of the world, which views Crimea as Ukrainian soil.

Degtyarev is not the first to support building a monument to the President. In 2018, Alexander Iltyakov from the ruling United Russia party wanted to put up a statue of Putin in the Kurgan Region, but abandoned his plans after discouragement from the Kremlin. In the Chechen city of Grozny, Putin's name adorns one of the city's main thoroughfares.

The current acting Governor of the Khabarovsk Region was appointed on July 20 by Putin after the removal of former head Sergey Furgal, also from the LDPR. He was arrested on suspicion of ordering multiple murders in 2004-2005. A highly popular politician in the Far East, Furgal took office in 2018, defeating competition from United Russia. His popularity continued throughout his governorship, and last year he led LDPR to a landslide victory in regional parliamentary elections. Since his arrest on July 9, daily protests in Khabarovsk have demanded that he be reinstated as local governor.

Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!