Tomsk Diocese proposes to get rid of ‘red terror leaders’ in the names of Tomsk streets

The Diocese of Tomsk of the Russian Orthodox Church strives to rename streets in Tomsk named after the ‘red terror leaders’ Petr Voikov, Bela Kun and Aleksey Belenets. The city’s toponomy commission examined the proposal of the diocese to find other names for the streets. According to some historical documents, Voikov played a key role in the massacre of the Royal family. It was he who delivered acid to wipe out traces of the crime.

The diocese believes Kun’s career to be bloody too. He was a chairman of the Hungarian Communist Party and participated in suppression of a left-wing revolutionary riot in Moscow and took part in shooting hostages and ‘class enemies’ in Siberia. Kun organized shootings of 75 thousand people in the Crimea in the 1920s. Belenets participated in the liquidation of Kolchak’s officers and suppression of the Kronstadt revolt.

The commission decided to ask for the opinion of the residents and prepare alternative variants of names. Earlier, the Voikov Street was Znamenskaya, the Belenets Street was the Podgorny side street, and the Kun Street is located in a new district and does not have any historical name.

Interfax
Information Agency