Ufa to Spend Over 50 Million Rubles on Park Named After Soviet Spy

Authorities in Ufa are seeking a contractor to renovate a park dedicated to intelligence officer Richard Sorge, with most of the 52.8 million ruble budget coming from federal funds.

Mar 8, 2026

Detailed design concepts for the park have not yet been publicly disclosed.
Source:
Anton Tarasov / Vk.com

In Ufa, a park in the area of Zorge and 50 Let SSSR (50 Years of the USSR) streets will be renovated — 52.8 million rubles (about $587,000 at current rates) have been allocated for this, with the majority coming from the federal budget. It will be dedicated to intelligence officer Richard Sorge. The authorities have already begun searching for a contractor through government procurement.

The mentioned park is located between houses No. 5 and 9 on 50 Let SSSR Street, not far from the intersection with Prospekt Oktyabrya (October Avenue) on the Zorge side.

Documents indicate that they want to create a new recreation area and ensure transit pedestrian movement. Existing trees and shrubs will be preserved, and curbs, sidewalks, and lighting will be updated.

In the new park, asphalt concrete will be laid for driveways, parking lots, and wide sidewalks, and tiles for main and secondary paths. A rubber crumb surface will be poured for the sports ground, and new lawns will be planted. Additionally, new benches, trash cans, art objects, and flower beds will be installed.

The head of the Oktyabrsky district, Anton Tarasov, wrote the other day that a metal stele with a silhouette of Richard Sorge will be installed in the park.

The area of work is 14,000 square meters (about 150,700 square feet).

The cost is 52.8 million rubles (about $587,000), of which 49.2 million rubles (about $547,000) is a subsidy from the federal budget, 1.004 million rubles (about $11,200) from the regional budget, and the city added 2.6 million rubles (about $28,900).

The project was designed by the Center for Urban Design, which also created projects for stops at the Central Market and Youth Library. These projects were not implemented, just like the proposed Sergey Dovlatov park. Among completed projects are the Water Tower, the Hakimovskaya Mosque, and Mikhalev Park.

It should be noted that Richard Sorge, after participating in World War I on the side of Germany, changed his views and became a communist. In the 1920s, he moved to the USSR, where he obtained citizenship and work for the government.

In 1933, he became a Soviet intelligence officer in Japan and operated there until his arrest in 1941 — before that, Sorge repeatedly passed information to the USSR about the imminent attack by Germany. In 1944, Richard Sorge was executed in Japan.