Speculation is rife that the body of Vladimir Lenin may soon be on its way from its mausoleum in Red Square, after official comments dismissed reports that the Soviet leader is here to stay.
Hardcore communists on Friday commemorated 87 years since the father of Bolshevism's death, while other political figures marked the anniversary by renewing the debate about what to do with his body.
Kremlin property chief Vladimir Kozhin said recently there were no immediate plans to remove Lenin from his Moscow abode and bury him, but a presidential administration source took a softer line on Friday.
"The decision whether to remove tombs from Red Square... rests with the country's political leadership," the source said.
A United Russia deputy, Vladimir Medinsky, wrote on the ruling party's website on Thursday that Lenin's "presence in the heart of our country is an absurdity."
MOSCOW, January 21 (RIA Novosti)
