A statue of Stalin is unveiled in the Moscow subway as Russia tries to revive the dictator's legacy
A monument to Josef Stalin has been unveiled at one of Moscow's busiest subway stations, the latest attempt by Russian authorities to revive the legacy of the brutal Soviet dictator.
The sculpture shows Stalin surrounded by beaming workers and children with flowers. It was installed at the Taganskaya station to mark the 90th anniversary of the Moscow Metro, the sprawling subway known for its mosaics, chandeliers and other ornate decorations that was built under Stalin.
It replaces an earlier tribute that was removed in the decade following Stalin's 1953 death in a drive to root out his 'cult of personality' and reckon with decades of repression marked by show trials, nighttime arrests and millions killed or thrown into prison camps as 'enemies of the people.'
Muscovites have given differing responses to the unveiling earlier this month, with some recalling how the country lived in fear under his rule. Many commuters took photos of the monument and some laid flowers beneath it.
Aleksei Zavatsin, 22, told The Associated Press that Stalin was a 'great man' who had 'made a poor country into a superpower.'
'He raised the country from its knees,' he said.
Activists from Society.Future, a Russian political movement that voices pro-democratic and nationalist views, protested by placing posters at the foot of the monument that quoted top politicians condemning the dictator.
One poster, featuring President Vladimir Putin, cited him as bemoaning Stalin's 'mass crimes against the people,' and saying his modernization of the USSR came at the price of 'unacceptable' repression.
The unveiling came weeks after Putin signed a decree renaming the airport in Volgograd as Stalingrad — as the city was called when the Soviet Red Army defeated Nazi German forces there in one of the bloodiest battles of World War II.
Volgograd itself briefly reverted to its former name on May 8-9 for Victory Day celebrations and will be temporarily renamed five more times this year to mark related wartime anniversaries.
Putin has invoked the Battle of Stalingrad, which lasted five months and saw up to 2 million soldiers and civilians killed, as justification for Moscow's actions in Ukraine.
Russian political analyst Pyotr Miloserdov said the Kremlin has used a broader drive to embrace Stalin's legacy to justify both the conflict in Ukraine and crackdown on dissent at home.
'Stalin was a tyrant, a despot, and that's what we need,' he told AP. Authorities want to revive Stalin's image to popularize the idea of strongman rule, he added, and paint violence and repression as justified under extraordinary circumstances.
'This can lead to justifying any senseless, forceful actions. Under Stalin, this was allowed, there was a war. … So, here is our special military operation, and now this is allowed too. This is simply an attempt to justify the use of force on people,' Miloserdov said.
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New York Post
43 minutes ago
- New York Post
Face the reality Trump: Negotiating with the likes of Putin is essentially making a deal with the devil
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AP Yes, Trump inherited a truly terrible strategic position from Joe Biden and his foreign policy team, who substituted 'de-escalation' for deterrence and watched as America's enemies inflicted harm on its friends in Afghanistan, Ukraine, and Israel. A formidable Axis of Authoritarians emerged under the Biden presidency, uniting China, Iran, and North Korea in support of Russia's war. Even if the Original Sin of Biden's mental decline and its concealment did not impact foreign policy as much as domestic policy, he certainly was not equal to the task that confronted him. As Walter Russell Mead has rightly said: 'In 2023 and 2024 America needed a president who could explain . . . what we needed to do to stop the drift toward a new era of international confrontation. This is something Mr. Biden would have struggled with even if he were in full possession of his capacities; it was utterly beyond him in his diminished state.' 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Yahoo
an hour ago
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Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Latvia joins UN Security Council for first time
Latvia was elected on June 3 to the United Nations Security Council for the first time in its history. Along with four other countries – Bahrain, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Liberia – Latvia will serve a two-year term, beginning in January 2026, as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council. Reacting to the vote, Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braze called it a "historic day for Latvia." "We are honored by the trust placed in us and ready to take on this responsibility to defend the rules-based international order," she wrote on the exception of Latvia – which is taking a seat on the council for the first time – all the elected countries have previously served. The newly elected countries will take the place of Algeria, Guyana, the Republic of Korea, Sierra Leone, and Slovenia, whose terms will end in December 2025. They will join the five non-permanent members that were elected last year – Denmark, Greece, Pakistan, Panama, and Somalia. The UN Security Council is the main UN body responsible for maintaining international peace and security. It is composed of 15 members, including five permanent members – China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The permanent members hold veto power. Since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin has repeatedly used its veto power to block resolutions concerning its actions in Ukraine. Latvia, a vocal critic of Russia, has consistently pushed for stronger Western support for Ukraine. The Baltic nation has been a steadfast ally of Ukraine – it recently delivered 1,500 combat drones to Ukraine and has committed providing military support at the level of 0.25% of its GDP every has also urged the European Union to adopt tougher measures against Russia, including an EU-wide ban on issuing visas to Russian citizens. Read also: Ukrainian delegation arrives in US to discuss defense support, Russia sanctions We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
