The plastic in the subway lies. The occupier is not a friend, says the deputy mayor of Prague

Prague’s deputy mayor Zdeněk Hřib drew attention to the fact that a sculpture of Moscow is still located in the Anděl metro station in Prague’s Smíchov on the social network X. It has been here on the wall since 1985, when the stop was opened and when it still bore the name Moskevská.

“This sculpture of the Angel is a lie, so we will give it a new form! The friendship between Moscow and Prague, which this inscription indicates, was just invented propaganda. In 1985, when the Anděl (formerly Moskevská) station was commissioned, Czechoslovakia was occupied by the Soviet Union. And we can probably agree that the occupier is not a friend,” https://twitter.com/zdenekhrib/status/1786986843642155299?s=46&t=cRQKszhH8vTTeMdRUQWErQ&fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR2QQcc0WXV-pvSgYtOSzmX4lYeM0K3NRw_OEVcmgMvE6OM-w6kXeCexANw_aem_ASg5Vgd5_ekM4ROyA9BwLT4ucwXYKMs36WzBsG3hAoBVOBxXAd0GJDoKo9Xd9Wb-nBzcVV3noRq6W0ZpGSZF5w7r Zdeněk Hřib (Pirates) on the X social network.

According to him, history is repeating itself and today Russia is once again occupying a large part of Ukraine, where it is committing war atrocities.

“We unequivocally condemn this indefensible aggression. It is therefore high time to transform this sculpture into a subway,” emphasized Hřib, adding that he will propose to the city council on Monday that the shape of the sculpture be modified or placed in a new context. An art competition in cooperation with the Transport Company of the Capital City of Prague and the Gallery of the Capital City of Prague should serve this purpose.

Until it is decided what will happen to the sculpture, according to Hřib, at least a sign will be placed near it, which will put the situation in perspective.

Construction of the Anděl station on line B of the Prague metro began in 1980 under the name Moskevská. The considered name Lidická, which would be based on the name of a nearby street, was rejected by the communist leadership. The station was opened on November 2, 1985, and the name was changed from Moskevská to today’s Anděl on February 22, 1990. The station is one of the busiest metro stops.