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Volgograd to Stalingrad city name change not on agenda, Kremlin says

On the eve of the 80th anniversary of defeating Nazi Germany's troops in the Battle of Stalingrad which will be celebrated on February 2, 2023, Volgograd veterans came up with the initiative to return the historical name to the hero city

MOSCOW, January 27. /TASS/. Renaming Volgograd as Stalingrad is not being discussed whatsoever, Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Friday.

"No, there are no discussions on this subject," the Kremlin spokesman insisted.

Earlier, ex-Russian Prime Minister, former Chairman of the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation, chairman of the expert council of the Officers of Russia national organization Sergey Stepashin talked about the necessity to rename Volgograd to Stalingrad in memory of the Battle of Stalingrad which became one of the turning points of the Great Patriotic War.

On the eve of the 80th anniversary of defeating Nazi Germany's troops in the Battle of Stalingrad which will be celebrated on February 2, 2023, Volgograd veterans came up with the initiative to return the historical name to the hero city. Responding to their request, Governor of the Volgograd Region Andrey Bocharov announced the creation of a community council which would study public opinion on this matter.

Later, Alexander Strukov, co-chairman of the community council, chairman of the Volgograd city council of veterans, told TASS that the decision on holding a referendum on renaming Volgograd to Stalingrad would be made by the summer of 2023.

Starting from its inception in 1589, the city went by the name of Tsaritsyn, but in 1925 it was renamed Stalingrad, in honor of the then Soviet leader, Joseph Stalin. However, in 1961 its name was changed to Volgograd. On January 30, 2013, the Volgograd City Duma decided to establish the name "Stalingrad" as the symbol of Volgograd, this symbolic name can be officially used during mass events six times a year.

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