MP calls for closure of ‘Russophobic’ Yeltsin Center

Late Russian President Boris Yeltsin should be tried and condemned as a criminal, MP Nina Ostanina has said

The Yeltsin Center, a museum in the city of Yekaterinburg dedicated to Russia’s first president, must be shut down, while Boris Yeltsin himself should be tried posthumously, Russian Communist MP Nina Ostanina has demanded.

The veteran lawmaker has served multiple terms in Russia’s lower chamber, the State Duma, and made the remarks in a Telegram post on Monday. Ostanina branded the museum a “Russophobic nest” and called for it to be closed.

“Once again, I reiterate the need to try [Soviet President Mikhail] Gorbachev and Yeltsin, condemning them as criminals, shut down the Yeltsin Center and seize the property, handing it over to children,” she wrote.

Ostanina’s broadside at the museum was prompted by a planned and ultimately scrapped appearance by Nina Khrushcheva, a professor of International Affairs at The New School in New York City. The academic is the great-granddaughter of Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev and was expected to present her new book at the venue on Tuesday.

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The decision to host Khrushcheva, however, landed the Yeltsin Center in hot water, as multiple public figures attacked both the venue and the professor. Khrushcheva is known for supporting the idea of breaking Russia into smaller states, as well as harsh criticism of the military operation against Ukraine.

Facing a barrage of discontent, the museum cancelled the Khrushcheva event for “technical reasons.” It remains unclear whether it will be rescheduled.

The Yeltsin Center opened in 2015 in Yekaterinburg, the city which kickstarted Yeltsin’s career as a Soviet and later Russian politician. Various public personalities have repeatedly called for the museum’s closure.

Yeltsin’s legacy remains a highly-divisive topic in Russia, with some remembering him as the one who held the country together in the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union, transforming it into a democracy, while others regard him as one of the key figures responsible for the Soviet breakup.