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Idea of relocating Russia’s capital city to Irkutsk in Siberia not feasible — Kremlin

Dmitry Peskov explained that he had not read the letter outlining the capital relocation proposal itself, but was aware of its contents from the media
Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov Artyom Geodakyan/TASS
Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov
© Artyom Geodakyan/TASS

MOSCOW, January 16. /TASS/. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov believes that the idea of relocating Russia’s capital city from Moscow to Irkutsk in southeastern Siberia is simply not practicable.

"I don't think this initiative is implementable," he noted in a conversation with journalists.

Peskov explained that he had not read the letter outlining the capital relocation proposal itself, but was aware of its contents from the media.

Earlier, the Yakutsk edition of SakhaLife published a letter by Afanasy Nikolaev, a PhD in history, who proposed to the country's leadership that Russia’s capital city be moved to Irkutsk. In his opinion, this would allow for "ensuring the balanced development of the European and Asian parts of Russia." The public activist also called Irkutsk "one of the centers of the legendary prehistoric Tartary," as a large swath of northern Eurasia was commonly known in pre-modern Europe.