As Russians laid flowers on the grave of Josef Stalin in Moscow on Monday, presidential candidate Kseniya Sobchak slammed the Kremlin for allowing the creeping rehabilitation of the Soviet dictator who died 65 years ago. Originally laid to rest beside Lenin’s embalmed body in a tomb in Moscow’s Red Square, Stalin’s remains were moved to a grave in the nearby Kremlin wall in 1961. Statues of Stalin have reappeared in several Russian cities and officials have begun discouraging talk of his repressions. With a recent poll by the Levada Centre indicating that 46 per cent of Russians view Stalin in a positive light, praising the Soviet leader has become a vote-winning gambit in the presidential election campaign. Ms Sobchak called for the removal of Stalin’s remains from the Kremlin wall.

Source: The Irish Times March 05, 2018 17:37 UTC