Russia: Crimea's 'Polite People' immortalised in honorary statue

Military officials unveiled a monument honouring the soldiers who helped with 2014's re-integration of Crimea into Russia, in the city of Belogorsk in the Amur Region, Wednesday. The piece depicts one of the many 'Polite People,' the affectionate name for soldiers present in Crimea prior to the region's reintegration into Russia following last year's March referendum. Given the moniker for their lack of violence, the statue immortalises an incident where one of the 'Polite People' handed a Crimean child a kitten in 2014. The sculpture, funded by donations, is 1.8 metres (5.9 ft) in height and was produced in a Ural factory. The statue was installed in on the city's central square in time for Victory Day celebrations on May. Russia's Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu has backed the idea of establishing a similar monument in Moscow.