Yeltsin knows that the die-hard Communists, who are already mounting round-the-clock vigils at both the mausoleum and the Ulyanov family plot in St. Petersburg, will be enraged by the removal of their shriveled icon from Red Square. "Hes hoping that the Communists will mount street protests that will give Yeltsin an excuse to ban them ahead of Decembers parliamentary election," says Meier. "But the Communist leaders arent likely to be provoked -- any eventual plan to bury him is likely to involve the secret consent of the Communists." Not that Mr. Ulyanov would mind. It was Stalins decision in 1924 to enshrine Lenins embalmed corpse as a macabre tourist attraction Lenins final wish had been to be buried alongside his mother.
Dead but Not Buried, Lenin Stirs Up Trouble
-
Share
-
Read Later
-
If Boris Yeltsin cant be remembered as a great democrat, hes determined to go down in Russian history as the Great Undertaker. Last July, he buried the remains of the last Czar and his family; now he wants to do the same for Vladimir Illich Ulyanov, a.k.a. Lenin. A Yeltsin aide confirmed Tuesday that the cadaver of the leader of the 1917 revolution will be taken from its mausoleum in Red Square and buried, although he wouldnt say when. "Burying Lenin will be a politically charged action, and Yeltsin will time it to maximum advantage," says TIME Moscow correspondent Andrew Meier. "Ideally, hed like to bury the Communists along with Lenin, but that will be hard to do."