RUSSIA: The embalmed body of former Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin, which has lain in state beneath the Kremlin walls since his death in 1924, should last at least another 100 years, according to one of its curators.
Lenin's mausoleum on Red Square remains a major tourist attraction nearly a century after he led Russia's Bolshevik revolution of 1917. Demands at the end of the Soviet Union that his body should be removed from public view have died away.
"The leader of the revolution's body is in a great state and, if it receives proper care, can stay in the Mausoleum another 100 years and maybe more," Mr Yuri Denisov-Nikolsky, one of the experts who cares for the corpse, told Itar-Tass news agency yesterday.
He said the mausoleum would soon close so experts could touch up the remains.
"We do not expect any particular changes to the appearance of Lenin's corpse, but it is possible we will need to change the suit of the leader of the world proletariat," Mr Denisov-Nikolsky said.
The mausoleum, a striking stepped building in red granite, was opened in 1924. It remains one of Moscow's key landmarks, although Kremlin leaders no longer stand on its roof to observe military parades.