Lenin rises again in Russian city

KALININGRAD, Russia, Nov. 1 (UPI) -- Vladimir Lenin is set to make a comeback in the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, with a new square named after the Soviet Union's first premier.

Kaliningrad, the capital of Kaliningrad region that is surrounded by Lithuania and Poland, will also erect a restored statue of Lenin in the square, the BBC reported Tuesday, citing the ITAR-Tass news agency.

Mayor Yuri Savenko said that opinion polls found 18 percent of the city's population respected Lenin and "we have no right to ignore that."

Lenin's statue had been located in the city's Victory Square, but had to be moved because of architectural considerations following the square's renovation, the mayor said. Instead, a memorial to "the victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War," as Russians call World War II, will appear, he said.