Moscow draped in mourning

Press, 13 November 1982, Page 1

Moscow draped in mourning

NZPA MoscowSoviet workers draped Moscow with red and black flags of mourning for Leonid Brezhnev yesterday and State radio and television broadcast funeral dirges and words of praise for the former Kremlin leader. The authorities appeared intent on projecting an image of orderly transition after the death of Mr Brezhnev. who led the Soviet Union for 18 years. “It is hard for us. but we will survive." said one police captain a few moments after the announcement of the death. “Everything will remain in order.” The television station interrupted one of its concerts to show hundreds of workers at factories in Moscow, Kiev, and Leningrad, sombrely holding pictures of Mr Breztinev, and listening to plant officials eulogise the dead president and Communist Party chief. "In this bitter hour the working people of the Soviet Union gather even closer round the Communist Party,” said an official at Kiev's Arsenal metal-working plant. Continuous State radio and television broadcasts of funeral music created a mood matching Moscow's grey

skies. Temperatures were unseasonably warm at 7deg.

Extra police were posted in the city centre, although the evening streets were virtually deserted, typical of week nights in Moscow. Restaurants and cafes were moderately busy, although music and dancing were banned until after the day of Mr Brezhnev's funeral. Cinemas stayed open. Workmen were busy late at night draping red and black bunting on the Trade Union Hall of Columns where Mr Brazhnev’s body will lie in state. The body will. be

laid to rest in Red Square, beside the Kremlin Wall. Many prominent Soviet leaders, including Lenin and Stalin, lay in state in the Hall of Columns and were buried in Red Square. The renowned Bolshoi Theatre, adjacent to the Hall of Columns, was darkened and bedecked with four giant red and black flags. Labourers worked under blazing spotlights in Red Square to remove scaffolding erected for last week’s Revolution Day military parade, which Mr Brezhnev attended before addressing a Kremlin reception, his last public appearance. During the day Moscow shoppers appeared little affected by the announcement of the death. The city’s largest book store. Dorn Knig (The House of Books), continued to sell portraits, speeches, and memoirs of Mr Brezhnev. Large pictures. of Mr Brezhnev sold for 47 kopecks, the equivalent of 89c. Most citizens seemed unsurprised that authorities waited 26V Z hours to announce the death. Many had already guessed it from clues which began appearing in the Soviet news media. One Soviet man, overhearing a discussion about Mr Brezhnev’s death between an American correspondent and saleswomen, said “Have they already broadcast the news?" Asked if he knew about it beforehand, the man tightened his lips, looked straight ahead, and walked on.

Primary and secondary schools were ordered to be closed on the day of the funeral.