IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Ivan, who reigned from 1547 to 1584, was responsible for violence including the Novgorod Massacre, which killed thousands. But he is also respected as both key to Russia’s establishing itself as an empire and as a patron of the arts, including commissioning the landmark St. Basil’s Cathedral, which dominates Red Square in Moscow.
The czar’s moniker reflects his mixed reputation — in Russian, it can mean not only “terrible” but also “formidable.”
The erection of the statue comes as Russia, encouraged by Putin, is undergoing a broad reassessment of its history. The current Russian narrative justifies violence and repression if it’s seen as having been necessary to strengthen the Russian state, including atrocities ordered by Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.
Among the crowd of 1,000 who witnessed the monument’s inauguration in Orel was Alexander Zaldostanov, the burly leader of the proPutin biker group Night Wolves.
On the other side of the political spectrum, some activists in Orel had held protests against the statue and launched an unsuccessful court attempt to block it. One of them, Natalia Golenkova, told The Associated Press she had been assaulted walking home one night and warned to stop her opposition to the statute.
“Who was a fan of Ivan the Terrible? Stalin,” she said. “Tyrants love tyrants.”