Finland refuses from USSR's 'World Peace'

The "World Peace" monument created by Soviet sculptor Oleg Kiryukhin, which the USSR had gifted to Finland, can be returned to the site of ​​​​its location in Helsinki after renovation works are completed, Reetta Heiskanen, Deputy Head of the Department of Culture of the Helsinki City Hall said, RIA Novosti reports.

The politician said that the monument was moved from the Hakaniemi area to a warehouse in the eastern part of the Uusimaa metropolitan area. The fate of the monument will be decided by the city administration and the Helsinki Art Museum, which owns the monument.

"We follow the usual city process whereby a piece of public art is placed as close as possible to its original location, that is, it is preserved in its context,” Heiskanen clarified. One needs to wait for the construction works on the sidewalk at the location of the monument to be completed, she added.

According to Yle, the monument was dismantled due to the works to rearrange traffic on the street and the adjacent square. A sidewalk and tram tracks will be built on the site where the monument was located.

The "World Peace" monument by sculptor Oleg Kiryukhin was gifted to Finland in 1989. A year later, it was installed in Helsinki. In response, Helsinki handed over to Moscow the monument titled "Children of the World." The monument, created by sculptor Antti Neuvonen, is located in Friendship Park on Moscow's Leningradskoye Highway.