In recent papers (Michalska 2024), the unveiling ceremony of Adam Mickiewicz monument in Warsaw in December 1898 (to commemorate the 100^th anniversary of the poet’s birth) is dealt with from the point of view of power relations and interpreted as an act of Polish resistance against the Russian partitioner. However, to the best of my knowledge, a question of why and for what purpose, at the time of intense Russification following the January Uprising in 1863, Russian authorities agreed to have a monument dedicated to the Polish national bard erected in the very centre of the capital of the Kingdom of Poland, has not yet been dealt with. Consequently, the unveiling of the statue of Adam Mickiewicz is addressed solely from the Polish perspective. The Russian narrative, mainly in the Russian opinion-forming press, is almost completely disregarded. In my paper, I will compare the Polish and Russian narratives related to Adam Mickiewicz monument, with particular emphasis on how the Polish poet was used as a cultural policy tool in the Russian Empire.