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

The Little Humpbacked Horse
November 03, 2014

The Little Humpbacked Horse

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.

The Latchkey Murders
July 01, 2015

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...

Jews in Service to the Tsar
October 09, 2011

Jews in Service to the Tsar

Benjamin Disraeli advised, “Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.” With Jews in Service to the Tsar, Lev Berdnikov offers us 28 biographies spanning five centuries of Russian Jewish history, and each portrait opens a new window onto the history of Eastern Europe’s Jews, illuminating dark corners and challenging widely-held conceptions about the role of Jews in Russian history.

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.

Little Golden Calf
February 01, 2010

Little Golden Calf

Our edition of The Little Golden Calf, one of the greatest Russian satires ever, is the first new translation of this classic novel in nearly fifty years. It is also the first unabridged, uncensored English translation ever, and is 100% true to the original 1931 serial publication in the Russian journal 30 Dnei. Anne O. Fisher’s translation is copiously annotated, and includes an introduction by Alexandra Ilf, the daughter of one of the book’s two co-authors.

Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka
November 01, 2012

Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

In this comprehensive, quixotic and addictive book, Edwin Trommelen explores all facets of the Russian obsession with vodka. Peering chiefly through the lenses of history and literature, Trommelen offers up an appropriately complex, rich and bittersweet portrait, based on great respect for Russian culture.

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