85 meters tall – if you count the sword, and why wouldn’t you? But even without the weapon, The Motherland Calls! still stands a respectable and awe-inspiring 52 meters tall. Its location (since 1967) is Volgograd ( Волгоград, formerly Stalingrad), where else?

From the film Два бойца (Two Soldiers, 1943). Mark Bernes (1911-1969) with a guitar, between two battles.

Тёмная ночь, Dark night. Только пули свистят по степи, Only bullets whistle across the steppe. Только ветер гудит в проводах, Only the wind hums through the wires, Тускло звезды мерцают, Dimly the stars flicker.