Nikita Mikhalkov, President of the Union of Cinematographers of the Russian Federation, XI. st. Petersburg International Law Forum (SPBILF) called for the closure of the Yeltsin Center in Yekaterinburg.
“You realize that the first thing little kids see when they come there (the Yeltsin Center) is a scary historical animated film that tells the history of our country, in which all the filth, the abomination, the betrayal, the slavery, the fear and the light. window – the only one who just came and changed all this, ”said Mikhalkov.
He added that closing the museum would affect the people who organized it and now work there.
“There is simply a need, it is an important thing. “As a visitor to this museum, don’t make me believe that the whole history of my country is ‘disgusting and shitty’ and that only the holy nineties make me so happy,” he said.
At the same time, Mikhalkov emphasized that the first President of the Russian Federation, Boris Yeltsin, is not opposed to the presence in Russia of the museum.
“And you don’t need it [музей] take a break, let them build a museum of modern history, but honestly, it will become clear why it happened, who did it, what caused it, what it could lead to, ”the director added.
He also demanded that the Cultural Front Foundation undertake the closure of the Yeltsin Center to justify its need.
The Cultural Front was created in November 2022 at the expanded meeting of the State Duma Committee for the Development of Civil Society. The founders of the fund claim that it “focuses on helping the defenders of the Fatherland and their families by supporting cultural figures who understand the need for the primacy of traditional spiritual and moral values in culture.” In addition, the “Cultural Front” is designed to help the Ministry of Culture distribute funds for Russian culture.
In January 2023, the Cultural Front and actress Maria Shukshina proposed closing the Yeltsin Center and opening the Slavic Center in its place.
“We are not aware of these initiatives, we do not know to what extent they disturb the aforementioned public institutions, what is the reason for this, and what is connected with it. Therefore, unfortunately, we cannot participate in it, ”said Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation.
Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov, Yeltsin’s former rival in the 1996 presidential election, was called to shut down the “Yeltsin Centre”. In July 2022, he stated that “In order to prevent the spread of his poisonous tentacles in the form of a branch in Moscow, it is necessary to close the Yeltsin Center in Yekaterinburg and to recognize Yeltsin as a traitor.”
It was proposed to close the museum in the legislature of the Sverdlovsk region – we are talking about Alexander Ivachev, deputy speaker of the Legislative Assembly, a deputy from the Communist Party. But the governor of the region, Yevgeny Kuyvashev, emphasized that the Yeltsin Center was created in accordance with the federal law on the protection of the historical heritage of the presidents of Russia and includes “respectable persons”, including employees of the supervisory board. presidential administration, presidential plenipotentiary, and “your humble servant.”
Nikita Mikhalkov was also surprised that the Yeltsin Center had not been given the status of a foreign agent before.
The Yeltsin Center was opened in Yekaterinburg in 2015 in the framework of the federal law of May 13, 2008 No. 68 “On the centers of the historical heritage of the Presidents of the Russian Federation who have completed their powers”. Russian President Vladimir Putin and former Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev attended the opening ceremony. The museum houses the Boris Yeltsin Museum, art gallery, library, archive, cinema and souvenir shops.