A 34-year-old Russian man is borrowing from Donald Trump's campaign slogan, claiming that he wants to make his hometown of Ryazan great again.
Sergey Bizyukin has begun circulating a petition in his city, located 125 miles southeast of Moscow, to rename a small street called "Godless" to "Donald Trump Street," CNN reported.
Bizyukin said that almost 300 people had signed.
"Some saw it as a joke and signed because it was fun, some stood for normalization of U.S.-Russia ties, and some signed because they don't like the name of Godless Street," Bizyukin told CNN.
Bizyukin admitted that his petition is less about the president-elect and more about using Trump's popularity in Russia to advocate for change in U.S.-Russian relations.
"There are enough options for cooperation, for friendship, for economic cooperation, as well as culture and other fields," he told CNN.
Whether the street name will be changed is uncertain. Ryazan's city council says streets cannot be named after people who are still alive. But Bizyukin says even if the petition fails that won't discourage him. He told CNN that he believes simply launching it has already caused many in Ryazan to debate ways to improve relations with the United States.
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