MOSCOW, December 19. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin is opposed to removing Vladimir Lenin’s body from the mausoleum where it has rested since 1924.

"As for [Lenin’s] body, I believe it should be left as it is, at least as long as there are those, and there are quite a few people here who link their lives, their fates as well as certain achievements of the past, the achievements of the Soviet era with that."

The president noted that the Soviet Union was closely associated with Vladimir Lenin’s name.

"It’s better not to dig into that. What for? We just need to move ahead and develop dynamically," he said.