Update from an email:
I’m passing along owner Aaron McGovern’s statement regarding the Sakharov Sculpture (which is safe and sound in storage):
“At this point we’ve been forced to protect our property, our building, and our residents from the continued hate crimes against us. To date we’ve experienced nearly 20K in property damage and an undetermined financial loss of business because of these circumstances. Russia House’s future is uncertain and we still have faith that it will one day provide DC with another 20 years of amazing experiences.” – Aaron McGovern
Thanks to all who messaged me on Friday which was also April Fool’s Day so I needed to see this with my own eyes to confirm. And indeed my Sakharov Sculpture, our Sakharov Sculpture is gone. I have been using a photo of this bust to illustrate various posts here for over 10 years. There are no words. What best captures how I’m feeling right now is:
Some background from Espionart: “The statue was gifted to Russia House by Russian-American sculptor Peter Shapiro in April 2002, to celebrate Congress’s decision to posthumously honour Sakharov with citizenship of the United States. At the time on its dedication, Russia House was still the headquarters of a society for US-Russian cooperation, but Sakharov’s bust has remained in place since the building has been reimagined as a popular restaurant.”
Greg writes: “Russia house appears to be closed, permanently. The front door and windows are boarded up (weren’t before), the menu that was outside is gone and now the head has been removed.”
I have been taking photos of the sculpture almost every single time I pass it – so rest assured it shall live on in PoPville for many more years to come.
The last photos I took were March 13, 2022:
