Catherine II returns to Crimea after 95 years of absence
In Simferopol grand opening of the restored monument to Russian Empress Catherine II (Catherine the Great) has occurred. The monument was installed in 1890 and dismantled in 1921, then, in the 1990s, the public has repeatedly raised the issue of the restoration, but the Ukrainian authorities were unable to meet the people's dmands.
So, to restore the monument was possible thanks to the return of the Crimea to Russia. Several non-governmental organizations, "Russian unity" and the Foundation of St. Basil the Great decided to organize the restoration of the monument at the expense of people's donations.
"Today's opening of the monument to Catherine II in Crimea - is deeply symbolic event By connecting the peninsula to Russia in the XVIII century, the Grand Empress put an end to centuries of plundering raids from the territory of the Crimean Khanate to the Russian, Moldovan, Caucasian and even Polish lands of the major centers of the slave trade of its era Crimea.. for many years has turned into an oasis of peaceful coexistence of different peoples, cultures and languages in under the rule of the Russian Empire "- says the founder of the Foundation of St. Basil the Great Constantine