The embalmed corpse of Vladimir Lenin has lain in a mausoleum on Red Square since his death in 1924 but now, a century after the revolution he spearheaded, legislation designed to turf him out has been introduced into the Russian parliament.
The communist party, which ruled the country until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, called any such move "a provocation" that could lead to mass unrest if pursued.
But the draft law's authors — four lawmakers from the ruling United Russia party and two from a pro-Kremlin nationalist party — cited polls showing a majority opposed the presence of the corpse in the heart of the Russian capital.