Central Asia's largest Lenin statue taken down to be replaced by flagpole
In Osh, Kyrgyzstan, authorities have dismantled a 75-foot statue of Vladimir Lenin, once believed to be the tallest of its kind in Central Asia.
Erected in 1975, when Kyrgyzstan was part of the Soviet Union, the monument's removal was captured in online photos on Saturday, showing the statue being lowered by a crane.
While many countries formerly part of the Soviet Union have been distancing themselves from Russia, the removal of the monument was framed by officials in Osh as routine city planning.
In a statement, Osh City Hall called the move 'common practice' aimed at improving the 'architectural and aesthetic appearance' of the area.
Officials also noted that Lenin monuments have been 'dismantled or moved to other places' in Russian cities including St Petersburg and Belgorod, and said that the issue 'should not be politicized.'
The monument, they said, will be replaced by a flagpole, as was the case when a different Lenin statue was relocated in the capital, Bishkek.
The move came a week after Kyrgyzstan's ally Russia unveiled a monument to brutal Soviet dictator Josef Stalin at one of Moscow 's busiest subway stations.
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Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Iran's supreme leader asks Putin to do more after US strikes
ISTANBUL/MOSCOW, June 23 (Reuters) - Iran's supreme leader sent his foreign minister to Moscow on Monday to ask President Vladimir Putin for more help from Russia after the biggest U.S. military action against the Islamic Republic since the 1979 revolution over the weekend. U.S. President Donald Trump and Israel have publicly speculated about killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and about regime change, a step Russia fears could sink the Middle East into the abyss. While Putin has condemned the Israeli strikes, he has yet to comment on the U.S. attacks on Iranian nuclear sites though he last week called for calm and offered Moscow's services as a mediator over the nuclear programme. A senior source told Reuters that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi was due to deliver a letter from Khamenei to Putin, seeking the latter's support. Iran has not been impressed with Russia's support so far, Iranian sources told Reuters, and the country wants Putin to do more to back it against Israel and the United States. The sources did not elaborate on what assistance Tehran wanted. The Kremlin said that Putin would receive Araqchi but did not say what would be discussed. Araqchi was quoted by the state TASS news agency as saying that Iran and Russia were coordinating their positions on the current escalation in the Middle East. Putin has repeatedly offered to mediate between the United States and Iran, and said that he had conveyed Moscow's ideas on resolving the conflict to them while ensuring Iran's continued access to civil nuclear energy. The Kremlin chief last week refused to discuss the possibility that Israel and the United States would kill Khamenei. Putin said that Israel had given Moscow assurances that Russian specialists helping to build two more reactors at the Bushehr nuclear power plant in Iran would not be hurt in air strikes. Russia, a longstanding ally of Tehran, plays a role in Iran's nuclear negotiations with the West as a veto-wielding U.N. Security Council member and a signatory to an earlier nuclear deal Trump abandoned during his first term in 2018. But Putin, whose army is fighting a major war of attrition in Ukraine for the fourth year, has so far shown little appetite in public for diving into a confrontation with the United States over Iran just as Trump seeks to repair ties with Moscow.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Russia warns Trump he has opened 'Pandora's box' with strike on Iran as regime holds talks in Moscow and fears grow that the West will now face terror backlash
Russia last night warned Donald Trump had opened 'Pandora's box' after the US President launched a 'bunker buster' raid on Iran 's nuclear prgramme - as the Iranian regime arrived in Moscow for talks. Trump said the audacious attack by a squadron of stealth bombers in the early hours of yesterday had 'taken the bomb right out of [Tehran's] hands'. But Moscow 's United Nations ambassador Vassily Nebenzia issued an ominous warning at an emergency meeting of the Security Council as he said: 'No one knows what new catastrophes and suffering it will bring.' It comes amid fears Iran will lauch terror attacks on the West in revenge and as Iran's foreign minister arrives in Moscow for talks with Vladimir Putin. And he claimed Russia had offered mediation talks to find a peaceful and mutually agreeable solution to Iran's nuclear program, but the US, especially its leaders, are 'clearly not interested in diplomacy today'. 'Unless we stop the escalation,' Nebenzia warned, 'the Middle East will find itself on the verge of a large-scale conflict with unpredictable consequences for the entire international security system, plus the entire world might end up on the verge of a nuclear disaster.' Trump has sensationally called for a regime change in Iran as he held crisis talks with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Sunday. The US president took to his Truth Social page to share updates about the country's military attacks on Iran, when he suggested that the current regime 'is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN'. 'Why wouldn't there be a regime change,' Trump asked, rhetorically - even as he and Starmer urged Ayatollah Khameini to 'return to the negotiating table as soon as possible.' Russian ex-president Dmitriy Medvedev claimed in a post on X/Twitter early on Sunday that the US strikes on three sites in Isfahan, Natanz, and Fordow had backfired and led to the opposite result from what Trump had set out to achieve. Medvedev claimed: 'Enrichment of nuclear material - and, now we can say it outright, the future production of nuclear weapons - will continue.' Medvedev, who has served as President of Russia from 2008 to 2012, further stated that 'Iran's political regime has survived - and in all likelihood, has come out even stronger'. He continued to claim that Iranians are 'rallying around the country's spiritual leadership, including those who were previously indifferent or opposed to it'. His anti-US and pro-Iran social media rant was posted in English and broken down into ten points - gathering more than three million views. There are fears Britain and other allies could face a terror backlash from the regime's supporters. Seven B-2 stealth bombers swept into Iranian airspace undetected yesterday, dropping 14 'bunker-buster' bombs on nuclear facilities as the US joined Israel in the biggest Western military action against the Islamic Republic since its 1979 revolution. The UK was informed of the mission, codenamed Operation Midnight Hammer, but played no part. Cabinet minister Jonathan Reynolds last night warned that Iranian activity in the UK was already substantial, and it was 'naive' to think it won't escalate. Britain's military bases in the region, such as RAF Akrotiri on Cyprus, were on the highest state of alert last night for revenge attacks, including by Iranian swarm drones. Defence Secretary John Healey said: 'The safety of UK personnel and bases is my top priority. Force protection is at its highest level and we deployed additional jets [to Cyprus] this week.' Other experts warned of a 'new era of terrorism' and US Vice President J D Vance said the FBI and law enforcement were on alert for threats on American soil. Sir Keir Starmer and President Trump discussed the need for Iran to return to the negotiating table in a phone call last night, No 10 said. A spokesman said: 'The leaders discussed the situation in the Middle East and reiterated the grave risk posed by Iran's nuclear programme to international security. 'They discussed the actions taken by the United States last night to reduce the threat and agreed that Iran must never be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon. 'They discussed the need for Iran to return to the negotiating table as soon as possible. They agreed to stay in close contact in the coming days.' In a post on X/ Twitter early on Sunday, Medvedev suggested that the US strikes on three sites in Isfahan, Natanz, and Fordow had backfired and led to the opposite result from what US President Donald Trump had set out to achieve The Prime Minister urged all sides to return to negotiations but said he had taken 'all necessary measures' to protect British interests in the region if the conflict escalates. Before and after pictures of Fordow underground complex, taken on June 20 (left) and June 22 (right) In an address to the nation as the B-2s were flying home, Mr Trump said: 'Our objective was the destruction of Iran's nuclear enrichment capacity and a stop to the nuclear threat posed by the world's number one state sponsor of terror. 'Tonight, I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success. Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated. Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace. 'If they do not, future attacks would be far greater and a lot easier.' President Trump boasted the US had 'taken the bomb right out of their hands (and they would use it if they could!)', while his Secretary of State Marco Rubio claimed the US had offered Iran a civil nuclear programme but 'they rejected it'. He added: 'They played us. They wouldn't respond to our offers. They disappeared for ten days. The President had to take action as a response. 'We are not declaring war on Iran. We're not looking for war in Iran. But if they attack us, I think we have the capabilities they haven't even seen yet.' Last night, despite widespread calls to de- escalate, Iran president Masoud Pezeshkian said the US 'must receive a response for their aggression'. And a senior adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, warned: 'There will no longer be any place for the presence of the United States and its bases' in the region. Abbas Araghaci, Iran's foreign minister who described the US government as 'lawless and warmongering', is expected to meet Putin in Moscow today to discuss how to respond. Speaking hours after the US strikes, Business Secretary Mr Reynolds told Sky News the risk from Iran in the UK was 'not hypothetical'. He said: 'There is not a week goes by without some sort of Iranian cyber-attack on a key part of the UK's critical national infrastructure. 'There is Iranian activity on the streets of the UK, which is wholly unacceptable. 'It's already at a significant level. I think it would be naive to say that that wouldn't potentially increase.' A statement of the E3 group, with the UK alongside France and Germany, said: 'We call upon Iran to engage in negotiations leading to an agreement that addresses all concerns associated with its nuclear programme. 'We stand ready to contribute to that goal in coordination with all parties. 'We urge Iran not to take any further action that could destabilise the region.' But Iran threatened to hold the world hostage by closing the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway in the region and a chokepoint for world trade and oil transit. Last night, the head of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog said Iran's Natanz enrichment site was 'completely destroyed'. The extent of the damage at the Fordow site, built into a mountainside and reinforced with layers of concrete, is unclear. Discussing Fordow, Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said: 'There are clear indications of impacts. But, as for the assessment for the degree of damage underground... no one could tell you how much it has been damaged. One cannot exclude that there is significant damage there.'
NBC News
2 hours ago
- NBC News
Live updates: Iran's top diplomat to meet with Putin as U.S. braces for retaliation
What we know U.S. ON ALERT: The world is bracing for Iran's response after the U.S. entered the war by striking three Iranian nuclear facilities over the weekend, with officials telling NBC News the first 48 hours are of particular concern. ISRAEL HITS AIRPORTS: The Israeli military said it had attacked six airports in western, eastern and central Iran as part of its 'effort to deepen air superiority in Iranian skies.' IRAN-RUSSIA TALKS: The Iranian foreign minister is meeting with President Vladimir Putin today in Russia, with whom he said Iran will coordinate its response to U.S. and Israeli strikes. WARNING FOR AMERICANS: The State Department advises U.S. citizens worldwide to "exercise increased caution" in the wake of the U.S. strikes. IRAN WEIGHS RESPONSE: Iran says it 'reserves all options,' which could include targeting U.S. bases in the region or disrupting global trade by closing the Strait of Hormuz; President Donald Trump said any Iranian retaliation against U.S. assets 'will be met with even greater force than what was unleashed today.' REGIME CHANGE: In a break with members of his administration, Trump appeared to call for a change in Iranian leadership, saying in a social media post yesterday, "Why wouldn't there be a Regime change?" HUNDREDS KILLED: Israeli strikes have killed at least 400 people in Iran and injured 3,000 in the 10-day conflict, according to Iran's health ministry, while Iran's retaliatory strikes have killed at least 24 in Israel.
