October 12, 2025

Immortalizing a Modern Hero?


Immortalizing a Modern Hero?
The planned monument. Note the glorious rays streaming from the sky. Telegram, Alexander Khinshtein.

On October 10, Kursk Region Governor Alexander Khinshtein announced via Telegram plans for a new monument to honor a new Hero of Russia: Sergei Chebnev. The monument represents an effort to immortalize the veterans and casualties of Russia's ongoing War on Ukraine.

The planned monument would stand on a reservoir embankment and would depict Chebnev with modern military equipment. According to state-run media, his representation will "embody genuine heroism and loyalty to the Motherland." Work is underway to prepare the site.

Chebnev was an lieutenant colonel killed in August 2024 while leading the defense of a bridgehead near Sudzha, during the Kursk counteroffensive. According to Kremlin narratives, Chebnev's leadership delayed Ukrainian forces long enough for Russian reinforcements to arrive.

Chebnev's action earned him the title of Hero of Russia, bestowed posthumously to his wife by President Putin himself.

The immortalization of Chebnev has sharp parallels with retellings of Russian history. Specifically, narratives of the Second World War focus on the sacrifice of veterans, creating a veneer of sacredness around those who experienced the conflict.

The new monument fits squarely into this effort, and others, to hold up those at the frontlines of Russia's war in Ukraine as role models for other Russians.

 

You Might Also Like

No Politics for a Politician
  • September 28, 2025

No Politics for a Politician

Putin notes that Stalin was a key figure of Russia's victory in World War II, but says his image should be "depoliticized."
The Chkalov Flight: Almost Lost to Time
  • July 13, 2025

The Chkalov Flight: Almost Lost to Time

An easily-overlooked monument and museum outside Portland, Oregon, marks the site where three Soviet aviators completed the world's first transpolar flight.
Russia's Year of Horror
  • February 24, 2023

Russia's Year of Horror

After a year of horrific war, why does a magazine like Russian Life continue? Why not simply wash our hands of it and walk away?
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of our Books

Marooned in Moscow
May 01, 2011

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.

How Russia Got That Way
September 20, 2025

How Russia Got That Way

A fast-paced crash course in Russian history, from Norsemen to Navalny, that explores the ways the Kremlin uses history to achieve its ends.

The Samovar Murders
November 01, 2019

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.

The Moscow Eccentric
December 01, 2016

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.

A Taste of Russia
November 01, 2012

A Taste of Russia

The definitive modern cookbook on Russian cuisine has been totally updated and redesigned in a 30th Anniversary Edition. Layering superbly researched recipes with informative essays on the dishes' rich historical and cultural context, A Taste of Russia includes over 200 recipes on everything from borshch to blini, from Salmon Coulibiac to Beef Stew with Rum, from Marinated Mushrooms to Walnut-honey Filled Pies. A Taste of Russia shows off the best that Russian cooking has to offer. Full of great quotes from Russian literature about Russian food and designed in a convenient wide format that stays open during use.

Murder at the Dacha
July 01, 2013

Murder at the Dacha

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin has a problem. Several, actually. Not the least of them is the fact that a powerful Soviet boss has been murdered, and Matyushkin's surly commander has given him an unreasonably short time frame to close the case.

Life Stories
September 01, 2009

Life Stories

The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955