Russian regional court invalidates contract for controversial Stalin monument as governor vows it will stay

A regional arbitration court in Vologda has ruled in favor of public prosecutors in a case involving a controversial monument to Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin. The verdict invalidates the contract between the Vologda Exile Museum and businesswoman Ekaterina Lozhenitsyna on the grounds that the contract price was inflated and the procurement violated competitive bidding requirements.

Unveiled in December 2024, the statue depicts Stalin in a military coat. Vologda Governor Georgy Filimonov personally approved the design by sculptor Konstantin Kubyshkin and attended the opening ceremony.

However, the monument provoked backlash from local residents, who launched petitions against its installation even before it was erected. Separately, the public prosecutor’s office sought the dismantling of the statue and its return to Lozhenitsyna, as well as reimbursement of the 10.5 million rubles ($135,000) that the museum had paid for the monument. Sources in Vologda’s regional government have emphasized that prosecutors are concerned specifically with the contract for the monument, not the monument itself.

Meanwhile, Ekaterina Lozhenitsyna has indicated that she plans to appeal the July 9 ruling, stating defiantly, “The monument won’t be demolished.” Governor Georgy Filimonov has made a similar promise. In June and again after the arbitration court’s ruling, he vowed that the statue “will stand” and mocked its critics, writing, “Keep dreaming, folks.”

Two additional Stalin monuments have appeared in the Vologda region since the controversial statue arrived at the Vologda Exile Museum. In May 2025, a monument was installed in the small town of Kaduy near the local history museum. In July, a Stalin bust went up at a school building in the city of Nikolsk.