In 2001 a man died when the rear bas-relief fell from the pedestal of the Minin and Pozharsky Monument: a visitor to the capital tried to climb the monument by way of the bas-relief, the copper structure began to come apart, the man fell, and from above o

In 2001 a man died when the rear bas-relief fell from the pedestal of the Minin and Pozharsky Monument: a visitor to the capital tried to climb the monument by way of the bas-relief, whereupon the copper structure began to come apart. The man fell, and a substantial part of the 100-kilogram bas-relief came crashing down on top of him, simply crushing his chest. The collapse of the copper plate was the first tragic incident involving the monument in the 200 years of its existence.

At present, in the course of the complete restoration of the pedestal, all the monument's bas-reliefs have already been restored and are being secured.

Colleagues from the State Historical Museum have reported that, during the restoration of the bas-reliefs of the pedestal of the Minin and Pozharsky Monument, the originally planned date of the monument's unveiling was confirmed as 1817. This was established from the holes for the plates bearing the numerals. But in 1817 Alexander I did not visit Moscow, and so the solemn unveiling of the monument was postponed to 20 February 1818.