Officials gave Kirov residents a 'circumcision': the "h" disappeared.

      Yesterday, on July 1st, most official institutions in Kirov, including the regional government and the city administration, boastfully reported that several streets in Kirov had been given their historical names back. The renaming of Karl Liebknecht Street, which historically could not have been called "Defenders of the Fatherland," and which at different times bore two other names—Kuznetskaya and Spenchinskaya—was explained by officials as part of the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory. When residents asked why this name could not have been assigned to any other major street in one of Kirov's developing microdistricts, no answer was provided.

      Another discrepancy from historical facts that Kirov residents noticed concerns Derendyayev Street, which in old Vyatka was called Vsesvyatskaya. According to historical data, Vsesvyatskaya Street was named after the Vsesvyatskaya Church, which was located at the intersection of modern Moscow and Derendyayev streets—in the area of the current Kirov region government building. Initially, the temple was wooden: it was built in the 1660s. A stone church was erected on the site of the wooden Vsesvyatskaya Church in 1723. As reported by sobory.ru, between 1902 and 1907, the church was rebuilt according to the project of architect Charushin: for symmetry, a third altar was added to the south side to the meal hall—dedicated to the icon of the Theotokos "Unexpected Joy." In 1932, the Vsesvyatskaya Church was closed for services. During the Great Patriotic War, the building housed one of the military units, and in the late 1940s, the church was completely demolished. Today, Kirov residents have noticed that on several "official" portals, the "historically renamed" street is misspelled as Vsesvyatskaya. This raises a logical question: what does it have to do with faithfulness to history, which the "renamers" relied on when claiming to restore "historical names" to streets, when the church in ancient Vyatka was called Vsesvyatsky—after the icon of All Saints, not "Vsesvyatsky."

      It is worth noting that on some online maps, the former Derendyayev is labeled Vsesvyatskaya. However, in releases, including from the city administration, the letter "х" mysteriously disappeared from the street's name. Incidentally, during a city Duma meeting when the deputies approved the renaming of Kirov streets, city manager Vyacheslav Simakov stated that a petition from a group of deputies proposed renaming Derendyayev specifically to Vsesvyatskaya. The Toponymy Council did not object, and neither did the Duma. However, this again raises questions about "historical accuracy." Later, in correspondence with journalist Newsler.ru, Vyacheslav Simakov revealed that former Derendyayev actually had "two historical names." Nevertheless, the variant Vsesvyatskaya remains possible. Most likely, it is an incorrect, colloquial, "popular" name used by common people. Perhaps the deputies, removing the "х" from the historical name, wanted to show their closeness to the people. Or, in a rush to rename streets at any cost, neither officials, nor the Toponymy Council, nor historians and local experts took the trouble of considering such a small detail as the historically correct street name. There are many questions among residents regarding the street renaming in Kirov. And with the disappearance of the "х" from the historically correct name of one of the oldest streets in Kirov, there will be even more. However, all these events are well summarized by a famous quote from the head of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Lavrov, which he uttered ten years ago during a press conference with Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir.