Memorial to KGB head sparks bust-up

By Steve Rosenberg
BBC Moscow correspondent

Not everyone admires Yuri Andropov

A new statue in the northern Russian city of Petrozavodsk has caused some controversy.

Some Russians do not think Yuri Andropov - the late Soviet leader and head of the KGB, who died more than 20 years ago - is worthy of such a bold commemoration.

You can tell so much about a country from the heroes it chooses to honour in stone, marble and bronze.

There is a statue of Lenin in almost every Russian town or village - a sign of the grip communism once had over this country.

Petrozavodsk has a Lenin, of course, but now there is a new statue in town which is causing more controversy than the leader of Russia's revolution.

KGB cruelty

Mr Andropov was head of the KGB for 15 years. Now his three-metre (9ft 8 in) high bust graces Petrozavodsk town centre.

It has been built opposite the local branch of Russia's internal security service, the FSB. War veterans had reportedly pleaded for the statue to be erected to honour Mr Andropov for his efforts in the Resistance during World War II.

But liberal groups have condemned the giant head.

A spokesman for the Memorial Human Rights Centre told the BBC that Mr Andropov was a symbol of the KGB and its cruelty.

Under his rule, repressions against political dissidents were stepped up.

Nevertheless today in Russia, in the corridors of power, Mr Andropov has become something of an icon - perhaps not surprising in a country where the current president is another former KGB chief, and where so many ex-KGB officers now hold key positions.