On the eve of the visit to Volgograd of Vladimir Putin, the aggressor country's president, the 'Volgograd' road signs at all main entrances to the city were temporarily replaced with 'Stalingrad' signs [Khrushchev's administration changed the name of the city to Volgograd (Volga City) as part of his programme of de-Stalinisation following Stalin's death].
Source: Interfax Russia
Details: Interfax reported that the renaming of the city in accordance with the decision of the local authorities is done 10 days a year, including 2 February: the day of the end of the Battle of Stalingrad.
However, it is known that Putin's visit to Volgograd is expected from 30 January to 5 February.
Before that, the centre of Volgograd was hurriedly cleaned up. At the same time, from 30 January to 3 February, the city introduced a ban on the transit of heavy-duty and large vehicles, in particular those transporting dangerous goods.
Background:
On 30 January, Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of the Russian president, said that Putin would come to Volgograd for one day. It is not yet clear whether the president will take part in the celebrations.
Volgograd-based media report that the city is also expecting a visit of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of PMC Wagner, and Ramzan Kadyrov, the head of Chechnya, as part of the festive events.
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