Statue of singer-turned-politician Iosif Kobzon to be installed in Siberia

A bronze statue of controversial Russian singer-turned-politician Iosif Kobzon is to be erected in Siberia, following an announcement that $57,430 (3.3 million rubles) will be allocated for three monuments to “contemporary Russian heroes”.

The district head of eastern Siberia’s Agin-Buryat, Bato Dorzhiev, said that the statues will be erected to mark the commemoration of several of the region’s historic dates to be celebrated this September.

The two-metre statue of Kobzon, who represented the Aginsky Buryat district in the State Duma from 1997 to 2007, and was made an honorary citizen of the region in 2010, will be joined by two others; one of local livestock breeder Dalai Gungaev, and another of shepherd Bob-Dorzho Mikhailov.

A famously outspoken pro-Putin figure, Kobzon has repeatedly courted controversy in the west. In the wake of Russia’s annexation of Crimea, Kobzon, who held a concert in support of the pro-Russia rebels in Ukraine’s rebel-held Donetsk region, was targeted by EU sanctions banning his travel to Europe and freezing his assets. A bar on Kobzon entering the United States has also been in place since 1995 on account of his suspected ties to the mafia.

Kobzon has served as the State Duma deputy for Zabaykalsky Krai since 2007.