Marshal of the Soviet Union Vasily Ivanovich Chuikov is buried in the area of the monument, as is famous Soviet sniper Vasily Zaytsev, who killed 225 soldiers and officers of the German army and their allies in the battle of Stalingrad. The statue appears on both the current flag and coat of arms of Volgograd Oblast. Two hundred steps, symbolizing the 200 days of the Battle of Stalingrad, lead from the bottom of the hill to the monument. Monument The Motherland Calls on the GDR postage stamp of 1983 The rigidity of the frame is supported by 99 metal cables constantly in tension. The statue contains 5,500 tonnes (6,100 short tons) of concrete and 2,400 tonnes (2,600 short tons) of metal structures, and the sword itself weighs 14 tonnes (15 short tons). The monument weighs over 8,000 tonnes (8,800 short tons). The plinth measures another 2 m (6.6 ft), and is installed on a concrete foundation with a depth of 16 m (52 ft). When the memorial was dedicated in 1967 it was the tallest statue in the world, measuring 85 m (279 ft) from the tip of its sword to the top of the plinth. It was specially illuminated as part of a light show titled 'The Light of the Great Victory', marking the 72nd anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany. It is also believed that the statue has parallels with the figure of the 'Marseillaise' on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, and that the statue's pose was inspired by the statue of Nike of Samothrace.Īt night, the sculpture is illuminated by floodlights. According to various sources, Valentina Izotova or Ekaterina Grebneva posed for the sculpture. It is most likely that Vuchetich sculpted the figure from the discus thrower Nina Dumbadze, and the face from his wife Vera. Restoration work on the main monument of the monument complex was done in 1972, when the sword was replaced by another entirely consisting of stainless steel.

It was the tallest sculpture in the world at the time of creation. The construction of the monument was started in May 1959 and completed on 15 October 1967. The concrete walls of the sculpture are 25–30 cm (9.8–11.8 in) thick. Inside, the entire statue consists of separate cells or chambers, like rooms in a building.

The technology behind the hollow statue is based on a combination of prestressed concrete with wire ropes, a solution which can also be found in another work of Nikitin's, the Ostankino Tower in Moscow. The Motherland Calls is highly complex from an engineering point of view, due to its characteristic posture with a sword raised high in the right hand and the left hand extended in a calling gesture. The statue is an allegorical image of the Motherland, which calls on its sons and daughters to repulse the enemy and return to the attack. The work of sculptor Yevgeny Vuchetich and engineer Nikolai Nikitin is an 85-metre (279 ft) figure of a woman stepping forward with a raised sword.

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