Skier in a Hat

On November 4, 2016, the National Unity Day, a gigantic monument of Prince St .Vladimir, who Christianized Kiev Rus in 988, was unveiled on the Boroditsky Square in front of the Kremlin. At the opening celebration President Vladimir Putin, Russian Patriarch Kirill, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, head of the Foreign Intelligence Service Sergei Naryshkin, Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky, speaker of the Federation Council Valentina Matvienko and other officials were present. A military orchestra played.

The height of the pedestal of the monument is 2.75 meters, the height of the sculpture, 12 meters. In addition, the cross in the right hand of Prince Vladimir figure rises more than three meters. The total height of the monument is 17.75 meters. President Putin, Patriarch Kirill, and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s widow Natalia gave speeches. Putin, in particular, said that “This choice [Christianity] has become a common spiritual source for the peoples of Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, and laid the foundations of values that define our lives to this day.” In fact, St. Vladimir, a controversial historical figure, had no connection with Moscow, which did not exist at his time, as well as the counties Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. Some Muscovites have likened the monument to “a skier in a hat.”