Kalinin Square ( Belarusian:Плошчы Калініна) is the 5th square on the Independence Avenue of

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...

. The square was named in honor of the Soviet Head of State

Mikhail Kalinin Mikhail Ivanovich Kalinin (russian: link=no, Михаи́л Ива́нович Кали́нин ; 3 June 1946), known familiarly by Soviet citizens as "Kalinych", was a Soviet politician and Old Bolshevik revolutionary. He served as head of s ...

. The square started to form in 1953. The monument to Kalinin, located on the square, was built in 1978.

Criticism of the name

An official letter concerning the need for destruction of the monument to

and removing his name from the city's toponymy was sent to the

Minsk Executive Committee Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative stat ...

by Belarusian activists in 2010. This was attributed to the fact that Mikhail Kalinin was one of six members of the

Soviet Politburo The Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (, abbreviated: ), or Politburo ( rus, Политбюро, p=pəlʲɪtbʲʊˈro) was the highest policy-making authority within the Communist Party of the ...

who signed an order to execute 25,700 Polish "nationalists and counterrevolutionaries" kept at camps and prisons in western

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

and

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

, on 5 March 1940, during the

Katyn Massacre The Katyn massacre, "Katyń crime"; russian: link=yes, Катынская резня ''Katynskaya reznya'', "Katyn massacre", or russian: link=no, Катынский расстрел, ''Katynsky rasstrel'', "Katyn execution" was a series of m ...

References

{{coord, 53.9235, 27.6079, type:landmark_region:BY, display=title Squares in Minsk Squares in Belarus

Criticism of the name

See also

References