The statue was originally planned to be made of granite and to stand only 30 metres (98 ft) tall, with a design consisting of a Red Army soldier genuflecting and placing a sword before Mother Russia holding a folded banner.

The Battle of Stalingrad was a major conflict between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany on the Eastern Front of World War II, fought over six months from July 1942 to February 1943.

[7] Vuchetich started petitioning high-ranking Soviet officials for permission to design the monument in the early 1950s, including Politburo member Georgy Malenkov.

[8] In a letter to Malenkov dated December 1951, Vuchetich claimed that he had received multiple inquiries from veterans and family members of those who died in the war about the absence of a memorial on Mamayev Kurgan.

[10] On 23 January 1958, the Council of Ministers declared that the construction of "a memorial-monument in the city of Stalingrad commemorating victory over the German fascist force" would be overseen by a committee led by Vuchetich and comprising Belopolsky and Anatoly Garpenko, an artist and Red Army veteran.

[14] A cupola-shaped hall would include an eternal flame to memorialise the heroes of Stalingrad, a sculpture of a man shaping a sword into a ploughshare, and walls engraved with the names of those who died in the battle.

[18] Vuchetich objected to the proposition, arguing that a traditional costume would diminish the idea of the battle as an international event and defy the neoclassical style he had envisioned for the statue.

[22] The choice to make The Motherland Calls the primary feature of the monument complex was met with derision from Soviet military officials, including generals Andrey Yeryomenko and Mikhail Shumilov, who believed the statue's design would detract from the importance of the Panorama, which they thought to be the only structure that could faithfully represent the extent of the soldiers' experiences.

[19] Vuchetich's final design for the sculpture was approved by the artist committee in December 1962, and on 23 January 1963 the Council of Ministers ordered the development of blueprints for the statue.

[26] Nikitin began his role as head of the team by emphasising unresolved issues, specifically the lack of geological and hydrological studies that had been recommended earlier in the year.

[28] In a report to the Ministry of Culture made in September, he insisted these studies were crucial due to the extensive construction already completed and the need to ensure the foundation's durability and stability, particularly given the presence of mellite clays on Mamayev Kurgan; the hill could only support the structure if the moisture of its soil remained low.

[30] Workers used small vibrators to settle the concrete, eliminate air pockets, and ensure even pours, working manually due to the tight spaces.

[30] The statue's head, arms, and scarf were cast separately and attached using cantilevered junctions and large steel bolts, with the metal sword anchored in the right hand.

[30] Its stability was ensured by a complex system of steel tension cables to counteract wind forces, monitored by seismographic and meteorological instruments inside the structure.

[32] Initially, crews focused on assembling the metal framework designed to support the internal diaphragms, followed by welding the rebar for the external membrane and creating the plaster moulds for the statue's surface.

[33] This delay was partly due to emerging issues with the sculpture's foundation and the stability of the surrounding soil, prompting geological investigations that uncovered several critical deficiencies in the initial surveys.

[34] Addressing these issues required significant effort and expense; in early 1966, officials concluded that the only solution involved relocating all water supply pipes and reservoirs buried within the mound to a distance of at least 273 metres (896 ft) from the statue's base to improve drainage around the structure.

[34] However, these adjustments necessitated the removal of several graves previously located at the hill's summit and a reduction in the size of the plaza where the Grief of the Motherland statue and the Pantheon, which had replaced the Panorama due to issues with the latter's foundation,[35] were situated.

[37] Labourers worked throughout the spring and summer to meet this deadline, completing the earthen levee surrounding the main monument's pedestal, relocating the remaining leaking irrigation pipes and reservoirs, reinforcing the sword, installing sound and lighting systems across the complex, and setting in place the final sculptural and landscaping elements.

[37] The event drew tens of thousands of people to Mamayev Kurgan, along with reporters from official press outlets, including Izvestia and Pravda, who wrote extensively on the memorial's scale and significance, describing the statue as a tribute to the heroism of Stalingrad's defenders.

[39] The opening ceremony featured speeches from party leaders and military representatives, who highlighted various themes such as the valour of those who fought in the battle, the importance of remembering past sacrifices, and the role of the Red Army in defeating fascism.

[39] Premier Leonid Brezhnev's keynote address framed the monument as a testament to Soviet unity and postwar recovery, while also emphasising the USSR's commitment to peace and culture in contrast to American actions during the Vietnam War.

[42] However, by 2009, concerns had been raised about its structural integrity; the statue's foundation was not anchored but held in place by its own weight, and was subsiding as a result of rising water levels.

[42] Initial steps included replacing the piezometric network (a system for measuring pressure) to allow for hydrogeological monitoring, studying the reinforced concrete's condition, and analysing cracks and other defects.

[49] In early 2019, the observation deck at the foot of the statue was closed off to visitors until March of the following year to allow for additional restoration work to its pedestal, surface, and framework.

[54] The monument complex was reopened on 24 June 2020, with a ceremony hosted by Volgograd governor Andrey Bocharov and Russian Minister of Culture Olga Lyubimova.

[57] By early 2021, dark spots and more cracks were noticed on the surface of the statue, prompting the filing of an application with a Moscow arbitration court requesting for Glavzarubezhstroy, which had not fulfilled its warranty obligations, to declare bankruptcy.

[64] United States senator Ted Cruz was criticised for featuring the sculpture on the cover of his book Justice Corrupted: How the Left Weaponized Our Legal System.

[67] On 5 April 2024, a 23-year-old woman from Samara was sentenced to ten months of forced labour for "rehabilitating Nazism" after posting a video to Instagram in which she pretended to tickle the breasts of the statue.

[69] However, commercial use, including placing the image on merchandise or using it for profit, would require permission and could incur royalties ranging from several hundred to tens of thousands of roubles for each use, subject to how and where the statue was depicted.