Russians dislike idea to return Volgograd's original name - poll
MOSCOW. Nov 9 (Interfax) - Sixty percent of Russians oppose the idea of renaming Volgograd to Stalingrad, and only 18% support it, the Levada Center said in commenting on a poll held in 45 regions in late October.
Twenty-three percent were hesitant.
There is no unanimity about the possible building of a Joseph Stalin monument in a Russian city either. Thirty-six percent feel negative, 28% are indifferent, and 24% are positive.
Some 23% of Muscovites supported the monument, 56% were against it and 22% were hesitant.
Earlier in the day Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov said he hoped for the soonest renaming of Volgograd to Stalingrad.
"I am confident that justice will win. Nearly every country of the world has a street, a square or an avenue named after Stalingrad, so it would be absolutely fair to return Volgograd to its original name, Stalingrad," Zyuganov said at the State Duma meeting dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Stalingrad on Friday.
The 70th anniversary of the Battle of Stalingrad will be marked on February 2, 2013.
Activists of a public organization, Trade Union of Russian Citizens, collected about 900 signatures in St. Petersburg in mid-October to support the return of Volgograd's original name. The organization said the collection of signatures would continue at least until the middle of December.
"The return of the original name, Stalingrad, to the city by the Volga River would be the best gift to the people of Russia by the day we will remember our soldiers who fought up to the last ditch in the Battle of Stalingrad. Stalingrad was a symbol of the victory. The Battle of Stalingrad was a symbol of liberation for all the sound forces of humanity," the action organizers said.
