Russians To Build, Tear Down Statue

ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA—In a move certain to maintain instability in Russia, citizens of St. Petersburg unveiled plans at an anti-Yeltsin rally Monday to build an enormous stone statue and then tear it down. The monument will be a 1,000-foot-tall likeness of Aleksandr Kovalev, the right-wing, hard-line army general who is currently involved in a power struggle with Yeltsin. The statue will be erected in St. Petersburg’s town square, where citizens angry with the government’s failed economic reforms and political instability are calling for the statue’s immediate construction and dismantling. “We will build this great statue to honor this great man,” St. Petersburg resident Vassily Kerensky said. “Then, we will tear down this symbol of oppression which has tyrannically lorded over us for far too long.” When informed of the citizens’ plans, Kovalev praised the construction of the statue and expressed rage over its destruction.