Monuments of Vladimir Lenin, the founder of the U.S.S.R., are an awkward reminder of an era that no longer fits with the times in Central Asia. | AFP-JIJI

DUSHANBE, TAJIKISTAN – On the facade of an apartment block in Tajikistan’s capital, Dushanbe, a giant mosaic depicting cosmonauts and engineers celebrates the scientific triumphs of the Soviet Union.

Like so many other relics of the Soviet past in Central Asia, it is doomed to vanish amid a distancing from Russia and a top-down drive to boost national culture.

“If we could only carefully remove it and put it on the building that will be built here. That would be good,” said Rakhmon Satiev, who lives in the apartment.

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