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The statue was installed in 1974 when the Bokaro Steel Plant was built with the help of the Soviet Union.
Bokaro is also referred to as the Steel City.
The BRICS Summit 2024 is currently making headlines, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi arriving in Kazan, Russia, to attend the event. India and Russia have long shared a friendly relationship, but the history of this bond goes back much further. One striking example of this enduring friendship can be found in the city of Bokaro, Jharkhand, where a statue, a replica of a historical monument from the time of the Berlin War, still stands today. But why was this statue installed in Bokaro?
Bokaro, often referred to as the Steel City, holds a special place in the history of India-Russia relations. Historians note that Russia played a significant role in the establishment of the Bokaro Steel City. In Sector 4 of Bokaro, there is a Russian Club, home to an ancient statue that stands as a testament to the historic relationship between India and Russia, as well as the origins of the Bokaro Steel Plant. This statue is of a Russian soldier named Nikolai Maslov, who heroically saved the life of a young German girl during the final battle of Berlin in the Second World War.
Historians explain that this incident inspired Russian artist Yevgeny Vuchetich to create a statue in 1946, which now resides in Berlin’s Treptower Park. The statue depicts a Soviet soldier cutting the Nazi Swastika with a sword in one hand while holding a young girl with the other. The original remains in Berlin, but a replica of it was installed in Bokaro, symbolising the lasting friendship between India and Russia.
Dr Jeet Pandey, a renowned historian from Bokaro and a member of the Indian Sociological Society, recently spoke about the significance of the statue in a media interaction. He described it not only as a work of art but also as a symbol of the strong diplomatic and economic ties between India and Russia during that period. The Soviet Union played a crucial role in the creation of the Bokaro Steel Plant, and this statue serves as a reminder of the close relations between the two nations at that time.
Dr Pandey further explained that the statue located in the Russian Club in Sector 4 is a replica of the one in Treptower Park in Berlin, Germany. It was installed in 1974 when the Bokaro Steel Plant was established with assistance from the Soviet Union. During the construction of the plant, around 500 Russian experts, along with their families, resided in Bokaro’s Russian colony until 1984.
To accommodate the Russian residents, a Russian Club was established in Bokaro, offering a variety of facilities, including entertainment and sports. The club even had an air-conditioned theatre where Russian films were regularly screened.
