Black Tulip, Petrozavodsk, War memorial in Petrozavodsk, Russia

The Black Tulip is a granite memorial in Petrozavodsk's historic district, on the left bank of the Neglinka River near Antikaynena Street and the Republican Specialized School of Arts. Sculptor Mikhail Kopalev and architect Nikolai Trishkov created the monument, a small square granite stele set in a small public garden.

The memorial was built to honor Soviet soldiers who died during the military operations in Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989. The black tulip symbol was chosen to reference the aircraft that returned fallen personnel to the Soviet Union.

The memorial's name comes from the nickname Soviet soldiers gave to the An-12 transport planes that carried the dead home from Afghanistan. Each year on 2 August, Airborne Forces Day, veterans gather here by the BMD-1 vehicle and the bust of General Vasily Margelov, unveiled in 2016.

The monument is centrally located and easily accessible on foot or by public transportation near Antikainena Street. The site is open at all times and requires no admission fee to visit.

The memorial's granite slabs carry lines from a poem by Leonid Molchanov: "I will forever remain young and live in the short word 'Memory'." Two further slabs list the names of 56 Karelian soldiers killed in Afghanistan, and another shows a battle scene. Sculptor Mikhail Kopalev and architect Nikolai Trishkov designed the monument.