Alyosha Monument, Plovdiv

Alyosha (an affectionate diminutive of Aleksey) is an 11-metre (36-foot) tall reinforced concrete statue of a Soviet soldier on Bunarjik Hill in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.

The memorial commemorates Soviet casualties incurred during the Germany occupation of Bulgaria (which had been an Axis ally) in World War II.

[1] "Alyosha" is also the name of Konstantin Vanshenkin and Eduard Kolmanovski's song that was adopted as Plovdiv's official anthem until 1989.

The 1989 decision led to a preservation campaign which included a guard by the statue day and night in order to prevent it from being demolished.

[4] Alyosha Skurlatov, a soldier of the 3rd Ukrainian Front who served as the model for this statue, died in 2013 at the age of 91.