A clear gesture: Simonyan offered to give the building of the French Embassy in Moscow to the museum

Due to the unfriendly actions of Paris, it is worthwhile to return to Russia the house of merchant Igumnov in Moscow, which is occupied by the French Embassy. This was stated by Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of the Rossiya Segodnya international media group and RT TV channel, on the Rossiya 1 TV channel.

"They expel us from everywhere... take our property, and the most beautiful building in Moscow belongs to the French embassy since Soviet times for some reason," she recalled.

According to Simonyan, the mansion is a "huge part" of our history.

"We need to make a museum out of it, and it's wonderful. It will be a gesture. The gesture is quite clear and understandable," she concluded.

Igumnov's House on Bolshaya Yakimanka (1895) is the most famous Russian—style house in Moscow. Together with the fence of the Church of St. John the Warrior, it forms an architectural ensemble, supported by the new building of the French Embassy, built in 1979. Currently, Igumnov's house is the residence of the French Ambassador to In Russia, the building is closed to the public for most of the year. Sometimes it hosts official events or excursions. The mansion has been given the status of an object of cultural heritage of Russia.