Mongolia: Russians Hang on Through Post-Soviet Change
On a chilly morning recently, workers in Ulaanbaatar dislodged Mongolia’s last statue of Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin from the downtown plinth where it had stood since 1954. A small group watched as the city’s new mayor recalled the repression that marked the communists’ years in power and denounced Lenin and his followers as “murderers.”

Lenin’s statue is lowered into a truck from the pedestal where it stood since 1954 in Ulaanbaatar.

Lenin’s statue is laid in a truck by municipality workers in a public ceremony to dislodge the statue of the founder of the Soviet Union.

Soviet-era apartment blocks are slowly overshadowed by taller newer buildings.

Present in Mongolia since 1873, the new building of the Russian Orthodox church was consecrated in 2009.

Marina Vasilevna consider Mongolia home but hopes her daughter will return to Russia to join relatives who’ve moved back.

An elderly Russian parishioner retains her headscarf denoting her faith at the after service fellowship meal at the Holy Trinity Parish in Ulaanbaatar.

Local Russian faces at the fellowship meal after chruch service at Russian Orthodox Church in Ulaanbaatar.

Russian dishes laid out for the Trapeza or fellowship meal of parishioners at the Holy Trinity Parish of the Ulaanbaatar branch of the Russian Orthodox Church.

For 8 years, Father Alexis Truback has administered parishioners at the Holy Trinity Parish, a branch of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ulaanbaatar.

Local Russian believers ready themselves for confession at the Holy Trinity Parish, a branch of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ulaanbaatar.

Believers gather at the Holy Trinity Parish of the Russian Orthodox Church for Sunday service.

A young girl of mixed Russian-Mongolian heritage sits in the balcony wing of the Holy Trinity Parish of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ulaanbaatar.

About 15 Mongolians form part of the 60 member strong Holy Trinity Parish of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Though owned by Mongolians, Milay, a popular chain of Russian restaurant hires often hires Russians to manage and train Mongolian cooks.