MOSCOW, April 22 (RIA Novosti) - Around 1,000 people gathered at Vladimir Lenin's mausoleum on Saturday morning to mark the anniversary of the Bolshevik leader's birth.
Supporters placed wreaths and flowers at the mausoleum on Red Square, where Lenin's embalmed body has been on display since his death in 1924 at the age of 53.
Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov, one of the first in line, said: "Today is the birthday of Lenin - a politician of genius and an outstanding statesman."
The mausoleum's continuing presence in the heart of Moscow has been a source of considerable controversy since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. There have been many calls for the Lenin's body to be removed and buried, but Communist Party members and others have fiercely resisted the idea.
