The Russian Orthodox Church has supported building the statue of a man widely accused of killing thousands of people during the Middle Ages.
The Governor of Oryol, a city south of Moscow, has been attempting to build the monument in honour of Ivan the Terrible but some locals have been protesting the move.
Some say that Ivan the Terrible was monumental to the founding and formation of modern Russia, while others say the man orchestrated the murder of thousands, issuing particularly harsh punishments on Russian nobility.
According to The Guardian Russian Patriarch Kirill of Moscow said while he could not support making Ivan the Terrible a saint, "as the founder of the city of Oryol he deserves a monument here".
Ivan the Terrible was alive from 1530-1584 and conquested several neighbouring lands, making Russia a much larger and racially diverse country.
He strongly supported the arts and was a significant member of the Russian Orthodox Church of the time.
He became Tsar of All Russia but was known for cruelty, one of the most notable examples being the Massacre of Novgorod in 1570 where thousands died.
The Tsar also killed one of his sons and would-be successor, Ivan Ivanovich, in a fit of rage.
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Article by Aaron James
Tola Mbakwe is a multimedia journalist for Premier.
