Volgograd victims of political repressions treat state support as negligible

On October 30, the annual rally in memory of the victims of political repression in Volgograd was replaced by a symbolic laying of flowers. Pensions and benefits are not enough for a decent living, the descendants of those repressed, interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot", assert.

This year, because of the COVID-19 spread in Volgograd, they refused from holding a traditional rally in memory of victims of political repression on October 30. Four persons took part in the official laying of flowers to the Monument to the Victims of Political Repression, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told at the Volgograd Region Administration.

On October 30, Lyudmila Ilyinkova, 84, came to the monument to lay flowers. According to Ms Ilyinkova, her father was dispossessed and sent to the Far East, where he was shot dead in 1938.

The state support is not enough, an elderly woman has admitted. "I am a Category I invalid. My only benefit is that I pay 50 percent of my utility bills. I receive no allowance as a repressed person, because I receive my disability pension. Earlier, we had free of charge public transport, visits to theatres were free, long-distance travels were also free, but then all that was cancelled," Lyudmila Ilyinkova has complained.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on October 31, 2020 at 01:41 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.