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Vladivostok to be decked out with Stalin portraits for Victory Day

© RIA Novosti / Go to the mediabankSoviet dictator Joseph Stalin
Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin - Sputnik International
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Portraits of the controversial Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin will be set up in Russia's Far East city of Vladivostok during victory celebrations over Nazi Germany in WWII, a city council representative said.

Portraits of the controversial Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin will be set up in Russia's Far East city of Vladivostok during victory celebrations over Nazi Germany in WWII, a city council representative said.

Vladivostok's city council decided to place Stalin's portraits on the streets, along with portraits of other Soviet commanders, at the request of war veterans.

"There is no politics in this, Vladivostok's city council has only heard numerous requests from veterans and satisfied them, understanding well enough that Stalin's portrait will cause mixed reactions from residents," the representative said.

"However, we should remember that for the few veterans still alive, Stalin and other commanders were their commanders."

According to official statistics, 52 million people were convicted on political charges during Stalin's regime, however, many people believe it was Stalin's leadership that pulled the Soviet Union through its darkest hour and freed Europe from the tyranny of Nazism.

Earlier this month Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov said he intended to decorate the capital with Stalin's portraits during the Victory Day celebrations despite a clear signal from the Kremlin.

The mayor's plans to set up billboards commemorating Stalin's role in WWII in the run-up to this year's 65th Victory Day Parade on May 9 had been announced in February and provoked strong controversy in Russian society.

Defending his decision, Luzhkov said though he was not a Stalin apologist, the billboards reflected "objective history."

Stalin has not been present in Moscow's Victory Day decorations for decades, but his name still provokes strong arguments in Russia.

Human rights activists protested against Luzhkov's decision, threatening to stage demonstrations if the posters were put up.

In a clear bid to ease tensions over Stalin's images, a source in the organizing committee of the celebrations, led by President Dmitry Medvedev, said there would be no such decorations in Moscow on Victory Day, marked as one of the biggest national holidays.

Between the 1930s and 1950s millions of people were executed on false charges of espionage, sabotage and anti-Soviet propaganda or died of starvation, disease or exposure in labor camps.

VLADIVOSTOK, April 29 (RIA Novosti) 

 

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