Russia’s stolen fr Kherson the body of Prince Potemkin, Catherine the Great’s lover, political partner,greatest minister of the Romanovs.Heres a thread inc my photos of https://t.co/BQsMmqRszF implies Kherson will fall to Ukraine but one wonders:what will Putin do w the body? 1/4 pic.twitter.com/M7UpcRa4sA— S Sebag Montefiore (@simonmontefiore) October 26, 2022
Here’s Kherson’s Cathedral where most of Pr Potemkin was buried which i visited after a quest to find his viscera in Iasi Rumania his heart in his village nr Smolensk. Near the tomb inscribed w his many titles a priest opened the trapdown & showed me his skull in this coffin 2/4 pic.twitter.com/GQWTRUrNrV— S Sebag Montefiore (@simonmontefiore) October 26, 2022
Potemkin betw rise 1774 & death 1791 on an open Moldavian steppe ruled w Catherine (see his Petersburg home) annexed Crimea S Ukraine & founded Kherson Sebastopol https://t.co/ifkxpFyaIk imperialist but also a child of enlightenment who settled cities w Ukr Poles Greeks Jews 3/4 pic.twitter.com/YpvpP1JNYZ— S Sebag Montefiore (@simonmontefiore) October 26, 2022
So what will Putin do w the stolen body of Serenissimus Prince Potemkin of Taurida? Tho Potemkin wld have loathed Putin’s primitive cruel nationalism, I predict a plangent imperial TV extravaganza when Putin will bury Potemkin in a flashy new Moscow tomb & promote his war 4/4 pic.twitter.com/AH7tw3KCO1— S Sebag Montefiore (@simonmontefiore) October 26, 2022
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