Putin, Patriarch Unveil Monument to Alexander I Outside Kremlin

Interfax ^ | 11/21/14

[marshmallow]

Moscow, November 21, Interfax - Russian President Vladimir Putin and Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia attended a ceremony inaugurating a monument to Emperor Alexander I at the Alexander Garden near the Moscow Kremlin walls on Thursday.

The ceremony was also attended by Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin, Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky, representatives from the Russian Orthodox Church and public figures, according to a statement posted on the Kremlin website.

Unveiling the monument, Putin praised the emperor's role in forming the system of European and international security at the time.

This event is timed to coincide with the 200th anniversary since the end of the war against Napoleon, in which the victory became Russia's global triumph and Alexander the First played a huge role in uniting the nation and defending our country's independence, the president said.

"Alexander I has gone down in history as the man who beat Napoleon, as a strategist and diplomat with a vision, a statesman aware of responsibility for safe European and global development. It was the Russian emperor who founded the then European, international security system, which was quite adequate for those times," Putin said.

The monument is a statue of Alexander I on a pedestal. The emperor is holding a sword, with the enemy's weapons under his feet. Opposite the monument are bas-reliefs depicting two major battles, including the battle of Borodino, the emperor himself, Saint Seraphim of Sarov, and two churches - the Christ the Savior Cathedral built on Alexander I's proposal, and the Kazan Cathedral.

[Forward the Light Brigade]

Glad to see Russia honoring her history-—Something Obama would never do.