One of the most controversial sculptures in Moscow is the massive statue of Peter the Great by the sculptor Zurab Tsereteli. The statue was unveiled in 1997 on the tip of the western end of Balchug Island where the Vodootvodny Canal and River Moskva meet. In total the whole structure is 98 metres high and depicts Peter the Great standing on a ship. There is a persistent rumour that the statue was originally intended as a statue of Columbus which was then adapted to Peter the Great, after the Americans refused the gift of the original plan.

The controversy surrounding the sculpture is not just connected with the statue's appearance and the sculptor's connections with the former mayor of Moscow, but also with the question of whether Moscow should be paying tribute to Peter the Great, a man who hated Moscow and moved the capital to St Petersburg! After Mayor Yuri Luzhkov's fall from power in 2010 there were talks of relocating the statue to another Russian city, but no concrete plans have been made.