MOSCOW, April 21. /TASS/. Most Russians (63%) have agreed with the idea that Lenin’s body should be buried, last year this figure was 60%, a survey conducted by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center showed on Friday.
"The majority (63%) essentially concurred that it is necessary to do that. However, 32% of those polled said this should be done immediately, while 31% are in favor of waiting for some time until this issue ceases to be sensitive for those to who cherish Lenin,’ the pollster said, adding that 31% of the respondents suggested "leaving things as they are."
Members of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) and United Russia factions had earlier submitted to Russia’s State Duma (lower house of parliament) a bill on removing the body of leader of the 1917 Russian revolution Vladimir Lenin from the mausoleum in Moscow’s Red Square. One of the bill’s co-authors, Ivan Sukharev, said that the mausoleum could be relocated and turned into a museum dedicated to Lenin, but "not in the heart of Russia."
The poll indicated that 39% of the respondents consider the Lenin Mausoleum a tourist attraction and are indifferent to the issue, while 18% said that the body of Lenin, the great leader, rightfully remains in the heart of the country.
On the other hand, 38% of Russians shared the view that it is wrong and unnatural to keep Lenin’s body embalmed in the Red Square mausoleum.
"Russian society is unprepared for drastic decisions on the topic of reburying Lenin’s body. There is no prevailing point of view, and it is not being shaped. The most acceptable option is to preserve the status quo, perhaps, with reservations and preconditions, but still that will be the status quo," noted Mikhail Mamonov, director of the pollster’s research projects.
The survey was conducted on March 9-10, 2017, with 1,200 people interviewed. The margin of error does not exceed 3.5%.