Culture minister wants to bury Lenin

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia, June 14 (UPI) -- Russian Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky said in a radio interview he thinks the body of Vladimir Lenin should be removed from display and buried.

Medinsky told Moscow radio Saturday he felt it was time Lenin's body be buried properly and his mausoleum turned into a museum, the St. Petersburg Times reported.

"I have always thought that his body should be returned to the earth. I would observe all the essential ritual," Medinsky said.

Lenin's embalmed body has lain on display in a mausoleum in the center of Red Square since 1924. Medinsky feels this treatment of Lenin's body is "absurd."

A poll conducted in mid-April by the Public Opinion Foundation found 56 percent of Russians supported burying Lenin's body, compared with 46 percent six years ago. The number of people polled and the margin of error were not given.