Monuments "Black Tulips" - memorials that began to be erected in the cities of the country after the end of hostilities in Afghanistan. Monuments that cause strong feelings already by its name exist in Yekaterinburg, Norilsk, Petrozavodsk, Pyatigorsk, Khabarovsk.
But in fact, there was not a single settlement where the guys who went to military service were suddenly not sent far from their country and made them participants in a foreign war. The fighters who did not return from Afghanistan were found many different signs of memory in their homeland, but the authors of The Black Tulip in Yekaterinburg created a monument, standing before which it is impossible to honestly answer the simple question: “Why did they die in a foreign land in a peacefully living country?”
Black tulips
These flowers in large numbers are laid out, delivered, placed on all planes of the monument. The tulip itself is a very romantic and delicate flower, a black plant is just the result of selection, but the combination of these two words was the worst in life for Russian mothers. They, expecting from the sons at least some news from a distant country, were most afraid in the world that the long-awaited news would bring them a “black tulip”.
Aircraft AN-12
It would seem that the heavenly centenarian, a hard worker, and the AN-12 aircraft during the 60-year period of their service did not deserve the horror experienced by Soviet women of the 80s of the last century. A reliable, unpretentious machine made flights around the world - from Africa to Antarctica.
Most appreciated by the military - a powerful machine with excellent flight characteristics, delivering people and goods to remote places. In Afghanistan, it was simply indispensable, not every side could land on a mountain plateau and boast phenomenal survivability in the air.
He delivered the goods necessary for our soldiers: food, ammunition, participated in the transfer of troops, was used for landing. He returned home not empty, on board were coffins with the bodies of our dead children, the so-called "cargo 200". For these return flights, the plane received its terrible nickname - “Black Tulip”.
Creating a monument in Yekaterinburg
The memorial to the Ural soldiers-internationalists appeared in the city on the initiative of the Sverdlovsk Council of Afghanistan Veterans. A competition was announced in which 15 projects participated. We spent several stages, as a result, the memorial of the sculptor Konstantin Grunberg and architect Andrei Serov became the winner.
Money for the creation and installation of the monument was collected by the whole city. Donations were made by enterprises, organizations, residents of Yekaterinburg. Significant funds were allocated from the regional and city budgets. The military of the Ural District also helped. Construction lasted for three years, and in 1995 the monument was opened.
Description of the monument "Black Tulip" in Yekaterinburg
If you confront the composition, it seems that we are faced with the fuselage of the "transporter" AN-12. Lateral metal pylons diverging in flower petals are its contours. There are 10 of them, according to the number of years during which Russia supported the government of Afghanistan. On each 10-meter stele plate, 24 names are written. These are the names of 240 guys who could not return home. Two black tulips at the bottom of each pylon - grief for them living in this city and country.
A fighter sits on the floor in the center of the plane. He is immensely tired. Probably from the war, from fighting and hardships, but most likely from the numerous wires of friends who "fly away" to this homeland.
You can look at the guy’s figure for a long time, noting the details carefully worked out by the author. The man, bowing his head, mournfully says goodbye to friends, but his figure is not relaxed. The right hand holds the machine firmly, it is tense. Left, he leaned on his raised knee, she is stretched in impotence to fix, change anything. These thoughts will torment him for a long time, even when the war ends.
But the fighter is ready for a sudden battle, without discipline in the war can not survive. The tunic's sleeves are wrapped, soldiers' boots are carefully laced, trousers are tucked into boots. The guy’s hands are large, powerful and reliable.
On the facade of the pedestal of the monument “Black Tulip”, the word: “Afgan” is deeply carved in stone. So it sank into the memory and hearts of the people who survived these years together with the guys who fought in that war. The letters cross out the weapons depicted on the pedestal.
The side walls of the monument are also designed very thoughtfully. On the bas-relief, two women rush to the dying soldier, a young and an old woman, but they can no longer help him. Lying in the arms of his beloved, a soldier of last strength put his hand on his mother's shoulder. With his body he combines three figures into one composition, now they have one grief.
Chechen War
After the collapse of the USSR, the war in Chechnya began. Officially, it lasted more than 12 years, but in fact much longer. Again, the young fighters were called on to "restore constitutional order." In the families of the dead flew "funeral" and "cargo 200".
In 2003, the Black Tulip memorial was replenished with new surnames. The newly installed slabs under the general name "Chechnya" listed the names of children who died in the "hot spots" of Dagestan, Tajikistan and, of course, Chechnya.
After 10 years, the memorial underwent reconstruction. In 2013, after its grand opening, new elements appeared. An alarm bell was installed in the center of the semicircular composition, to which a black marble road leads. Forming a semicircle, new pylons with new names of dead soldiers were installed nearby. There are 413. Significantly more than before the Chechen events.
