He was Russia’s first Tsar, a military leader and visionary who set the county on the path to superpower status, introduced the printing press, and even established Moscow’s first contacts with England.
He was also of the most feared tyrants in history, a mentally disturbed paranoiac who unleashing a reign of terror that devastated whole cities and suffered bouts of madness that even saw him kill his own son.
More than four centuries after his death, Ivan the Terrible was again at the centre of controversy after Russia’s first ever statue to the notorious 16th century ruler was unveiled on Monday. [...]
The statue has also been backed by Vladimir Medinsky, Russia’s culture minister, who has argued that Ivan’s ruthlessness was comparable with that of his European contemporaries.
He acknowledged in a speech that Ivan was “one of the most controversial” figures in Russian history.
Others have been outraged at the idea of erecting a monument to the ruler, however.
Critics launched a court battle to try to block the project, and more than 500 people signed a local petition that said "We don't need a monument to a tyrant in the city."
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