Since ancient times, Red Square has been mainly used as a trading place. Also, people gathered by Lobnoye Mesto (a 42ft
During the Soviet period, when the capital was moved back to Moscow, Red Square became the main venue for official state events and parades. The massive spectacle of military hardware dedicated to victory in World War II is still held here every year
Red Square, situated right by the Kremlin walls, is a strategic place. Here people are expected to behave in a certain way and there are numerous close circuit TV cameras dotted around the famous spot. And, as rumor would have it, the area is crawling with mufti-clad special service agents. Nevertheless, here too events have taken place that even the best of Russia's security apparatchiks could not prevent.
Mathias Rust's plane on Red Square (L), Mathias Rust in the court
AP;AFPHaving hired a light aircraft in Helsinki, he managed to cross the Soviet border unobserved by radar. Later he was detected, but Soviet military commanders were cautious and didn't want to shoot down a civilian plane, so they
It was meant to be a protest against the enforcement of a ban on swearing in public places. Later the performance artists were supported by figures from the world of
In 1995, performance artist Aleksandr Brener decided to challenge the first Russian president, Boris Yeltsin, to a fight. On a frosty day in February Brener came to Red Square wearing boxing gloves and shorts and started shouting "Yeltsin, come out!"
The action went down in history under the name First Glove and was a protest against troops being sent to Chechnya in line with a decree signed by Yeltsin.
Art gallery owner Marat Gelman, who helped Brener with his agitprop performance, recalls that the police detained the 'boxer' only half an hour later and quickly let him go.
On Nov. 10, 2013, the Police Day public holiday, another performance artist, Pyotr Pavlensky, completely naked, nailed his
Police covered the artist with a sheet while waiting for an ambulance. Medics helped Pavlensky to free himself. According to the artist, the action was a metaphor of political apathy in Russian society.
Nevertheless, the sight of the gigantic foreign object in the heart of Moscow produced such an outcry in society and prompted so many Internet memes that authorities ordered the pavilion, which had not even opened yet, dismantled.
Following the suitcase scandal, President Vladimir Putin approved a list of events that may be held on Red Square. They include the Victory Parade, the Spasskaya Tower International Military Music Festival, a New Year bazaar with ice skating rink, and a book fair.
Read more: 20 weird things Russians searched for online in 2018
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