Officials Refuse to Create Alley of Heroes

In the working settlement of Rudnya (Volgograd Oblast), relatives of those killed in the SVO cannot get the district administration to improve the Alley of Heroes. Officials justify the refusal by saying the special military operation has not yet ended.

Residents recorded a video address to Federation Council Chairperson Valentina Matvienko. «We, who have lost our closest and dearest people, have been asking the authorities for only one thing for two years — not to forget those who died for the Fatherland from our district. Appeals to all bodies find no support, and we receive formal replies,» the address states. «It is our local deputies who do not hear us, do not invite us to discuss the issues they consider about commemorating fallen defenders of the Fatherland. Twice we have been denied satisfaction of our appeals for the improvement of the district’s Alley of Heroes of the SVO. The reason for the refusal is the same — the special military operation is not over! Governor of Volgograd Oblast Andrei Bocharov, without waiting for the end of the SVO, initiated the creation of a memorial to the Heroes of the SVO on Mamayev Kurgan, while our local deputies, under the pretext of the SVO, are hindering the implementation at the local level of laws and presidential decrees on commemorating defenders of the Fatherland.»

According to residents, there is already an Alley of Military Glory in the settlement, but it was improved without a project or approvals. «When improving the «Alley of Military Glory named after Hero of the Soviet Union Pavel Rzhevsky» with state subsidies, the local authorities performed work without a project, but from us at the approval stage of the Alley of Heroes of the SVO they demand a project?» they indignantly ask. «Without public discussion, they installed a memorial sign «To the Heroes of the SVO» 1.5 meters high on a 5x5 meter platform in the depths of the park. They did not consult us, did not develop a project. We ask you to conduct an independent assessment of the responses to our appeals regarding the improvement of the Alley of Heroes of the SVO in Rudnyansky Municipal District.»

In the response of the Rudnyansky District administration, which came into the editorial office, district head Vladimir Poletayev explained the position. He noted that «the creation of memorial structures is recommended to be carried out according to individual projects taking into account the allocation of financial resources,» and the attached design solution has no cost estimate. Poletayev also cited a recommendation to create memorials no earlier than two years after the historical event. «Many participants of the SVO have been listed as missing for a long period of time. There are residents of Rudnyansky District who went to the SVO from outside Rudnyansky District, as well as those buried outside Rudnyansky District. Employees of the Museum of History and Local Lore are working to update the data,» the head said. The official’s final conclusion: «We consider the installation of the Alley of Heroes of the SVO premature. Moreover, an Alley of Heroes on Krasnaya Street already exists, and a monument to participants of the SVO has been installed there.»