Lubyanka Square in Moscow is not far from Red Square. The name is first mentioned in 1480, when Ivan III settled many Novgorodians in the area. They built the church of St Sophia, modelled after St Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod , and called the area Lubyanka after Lubyanitsy district of their native city.

Lubyanka Square is best known for the large yellow brick building which was the headquarters of the KGB in its various incarnations. The square was renamed Dzerzhinsky Square for many years, in honor of the founder of the Soviet security service, Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky, nicknamed Iron Felix. A monumental statue of Dzerzhinsky was erected in the center of the square.

On October 30, 1990, the organization Memorial erected a monument to the victims of the GULag, a simple stone from Solovki. In 1991 the statue of Dzerzhinsky was removed, following the failure of the coup against Mikhail Gorbachev, and the square's original name was officially restored.