In the coming months, the decision to hold a referendum on the renaming of Volgograd as Stalingrad will not be accepted. This was announced by the head of the Volgograd Regional Duma, Alexander Bloshkin, on Monday, March 27.
“No decision will be made today, nor will it be made a week from now. After 1-2 months, a decision will not be made with a referendum.
And I will tell you with certainty that there will be no referendum on Single Voting Day in September, either.”
Earlier, the head of the Volgograd City Veterans Assembly, co-chairman of the people’s council Alexander Strukov to study the public opinion on the return of the historical name to Volgograd, said in the city: starts referendum poll
He said polls will decide next week whether to hold a referendum on the city’s name.
“From today, initiative groups will work in the city’s districts to survey public opinion. And so by the end of the week,” said Strukov.
According to him, the public opinion poll on this issue will be held in the form of meetings with public institutions.
against people
In early February, VTsIOM published The results of the poll, in which two-thirds (67%) of Volgograd residents were against the renaming of the city to Stalingrad.
According to them, renaming would entail huge financial costs (21% of all respondents), not logical (12%) or harmful as “no need to live in the past” (11%). 26% of respondents would approve of the renaming, while another 7% found it difficult to respond. Press release.
In November 2022, representatives of the Volgograd Regional Veterans Organization appealed to Governor Andrei Bocharov with a request to return Volgograd to its historical name. In response, the district head said that the problem of renaming the city can only be resolved through a referendum.
Volgograd was founded in 1589, until 1925 it was called Tsaritsyn, from 1925 to 1961 – Stalingrad. In 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that the issue of renaming Volgograd to Stalingrad should be decided by the region itself through a referendum.
“Return Luhansk to its historical name”
Against this background, the All-Russian people’s movement “Veterans of Russia” suggested Return to Lugansk to its historical name Voroshilovgrad. The corresponding letter was sent to the acting head of LPR Leonid Pasechnik, reports RT.
“We hear requests from volunteer soldiers fighting on the front lines to support the permanent renaming of Lugansk as Voroshilovgrad,” said Ildar Rezyapov, the head of the movement.
It is stated that “the city got this name in honor of the outstanding Soviet military leader Kliment Voroshilov”.
The city was Voroshilovgrad twice, for the first time – from 1935 to 1957. Later it was renamed Lugansk due to the prohibition of giving the names of statesmen to their settlements during their lifetime. After Voroshilov died in 1970, the city was given the name it had until 1990.