42°08′37″N 24°44′15″E / 42.143611°N 24.7375°E
Alyosha (an affectionate diminutive of Aleksey) is an 11-metre (36-foot) tall reinforced concrete statue of a Soviet soldier on Bunarjik Hill in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The statue tops a 6-metre (20-foot) pedestal lined with granite. The memorial commemorates Soviet casualties incurred during the Germany occupation of Bulgaria (which had been an Axis ally) in World War II.[A] It was installed in 1954-57.[1]
"Alyosha" is also the name of Konstantin Vanshenkin and Eduard Kolmanovski's song that was adopted as Plovdiv's official anthem until 1989.[2] A well-known poem about the Plovdiv Soldier was written by Robert Rozhdestvensky.[3]
Plovdiv authorities sought to have the statue removed on at least two occasions, in 1989 and 1996. The 1989 decision led to a preservation campaign which included a guard by the statue day and night in order to prevent it from being demolished.[4]
Alyosha Skurlatov, a soldier of the 3rd Ukrainian Front who served as the model for this statue, died in 2013 at the age of 91.[5]
- ^ "Памятник солдату Алеше в Болгарии получил красный плащ". newsbg.ru. Archived from the original on 2014-04-07. Retrieved 2014-04-05.
- ^ "The Lone Soviet Soldier: The Alesha Monument in Bulgaria's Plovdiv". Sofia, Bulgaria: Novinite.com. 2010-08-10. Retrieved 2022-09-04.
- ^ Robert Rozhdestvensky. "Monument to Soldier Alyosha in Plovdiv". spintongues.vladivostok.com. Retrieved 2014-04-05.
- ^ "Сайт Московского городского отделения КПРФ - "Стоит над горою Алеша – в Болгарии русский солдат"". old.moskprf.ru. Archived from the original on 2014-04-07. Retrieved 2014-04-05.
- ^ "На Алтае умер легендарный "солдат Алеша" — Сергей Зюзин — Российская газета". rg.ru. 4 November 2013. Retrieved 2014-04-05.