Putin opens Moscow’s Sickle and Hammer station as Soviet symbols remain prominent in the capital

Vladimir Putin opened a Moscow railway station named Sickle and Hammer, placing one of the Soviet Union’s defining symbols at the center of a major new transport hub in the Russian capital.

Putin inaugurated the station on Saturday, September 5, alongside Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, during events marking Moscow’s 879th anniversary. The 7,300-square-metre facility serves as one of eastern Moscow’s main transport nodes, connecting two metro stations with tram lines. It includes two passenger platforms and a concourse expected to serve almost 1 million people. Officials anticipate 100,000 daily users by 2030 from eastern Moscow Region and neighboring Vladimir Region.

The hammer and sickle originally symbolized the alliance between peasants and workers and became the principal state emblem of the Soviet Union. Although the USSR dissolved in 1991, the symbols remain visible on official buildings in Moscow. The station’s opening took place during an election campaign and before Putin’s meeting with U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.

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Anyone who does not mourn the dissolution of the USSR has no heart, and anyone who wants to restore it has no head.

Putin, who has faced accusations of rehabilitating Joseph Stalin’s image and seeking to restore the Soviet Union’s imperial grandeur, has described the loss of the USSR in stark terms: “Anyone who does not mourn the dissolution of the USSR has no heart, and anyone who wants to restore it has no head.”

For the first time since 2007, Putin is leading the Kremlin party United Russia’s election campaign as it seeks to retain its constitutional majority in parliamentary elections on September 20. Meeting the party’s main candidates, he called for stronger domestic political stability and state institutions. He also stressed support for men and women fighting in Ukraine and protection of Russian territory from Ukrainian drone attacks. Recent Levada Center polling cited in the article found that 59% of Russians favor quickly beginning a peace process, while 31% support continuing military operations.

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We must consolidate the domestic political situation, the strength of the Russian state and, despite all the difficulties and threats we constantly face, continue along the path of strengthening Russia in accordance with the Constitution.