Muscovites were left shaking their heads after a monument to Marshal Georgy Zhukov was taken down overnight and replaced with a slightly different version, but authorities insist the copy is only temporary.
Famous Moscow Statue Cut Up, Replaced With 'Temporary' Altered Copy
The scene on Moscow's Manezhnaya Square on March 20 after a monument to Soviet World War II Marshal Georgy Zhukov (on ground at left) was taken down overnight and replaced with a slightly altered version of the same statue.
A file photo taken in 2016 shows the statue of Zhukov standing up on his stirrups and extending a hand as if halting the Nazi advance into Soviet Russia. The statue was installed in 1995.
A close-up of the statue copy installed on March 20, which depicts Zhukov's right hand saluting.
A masked woman looks over the scene on March 20. City authorities said the replica is only temporary and the original statue will be reinstalled by early May.
A worker with a power tool at the site. Photographs taken by a TASS photographer appear to show the original statue has been cut into pieces.
A detail from one photo shows the horses legs apparently cut through.
The base of the statue depicted Nazi flags, which Zhukov's horse was walking over.
Moscow city authorities initially said they were unable to answer questions about the statue as it was the responsibility of the federal government. Then, on March 20, Moscow's Department of Cultural Heritage told Russian news outlet RBK that the original statue would be restored, before being returned to its pedestal.
Pieces of the dismantled monument lie on the ground on March 20. The original monument cost a reported $3.2 million. It is not immediately clear how much was spent on the replacement copy.