Russian region unveils second Stalin monument ahead of Victory Day

A bronze bust of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin has been unveiled in a village in Russia’s northwestern Vologda region on the initiative of the local Communist Party, independent news channel SOTAvision reported on Monday.

Local officials and politicians and Oleg Lebedev, a Communist Party deputy from the State Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament, attended Sunday’s unveiling, the party website said.

“It’s not every day that monuments to Stalin are unveiled in Russia, and it is very good that there are now two in the Vologda region. It’s important for young people… and for the older generation … in recognition of the people who made our country a great power. Stalin today is a symbol of victory that no one will ever be able to erase from history,” Lebedev said.

Russia will mark the 80th anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in World War II later this week.

The Communist Party also noted the “civic courage” of Svetlana Grachova, the head of the district where the monument was unveiled, for not standing in the way of the monument being erected “despite coming from the ruling party”.

The first new monument to Stalin in the region was erected in December at a house where the dictator had lived which has since been turned into a museum. Vologda region Governor Georgy Filimonov, whose office features a painting of an imaginary scene of Stalin shaking his hand, said that the monument had been put up due to public demand.