Ruse, Bulgaria: Alyosha Monument

Here's a reminder of the 40-plus years after World War II in which Bulgaria was under Soviet control. It's a statue saluting the Soviet soldier. Several are in the region, and they generally are called the Alyosha Monument.

There's a quote from Georgi Dimitrov on the back of it: ”USSR Friendship with Bulgaria is necessary as air and sun for every living creature." Dimitrov was a prime minster of Bulgaria in the late 1940s. 

Gotta wonder if it's time to start moving objects like this into museums. Then again, maybe Bulgaria has a long memory about these things and isn't going to take any chances.