The Putin administration unveiled a large relief of former Soviet Supreme Leader Stalin at a central metro station in Moscow on the 15th.
For years, the Kremlin has been working to restore Stalin's reputation, promoting an extremely patriotic historical narrative that conceals the political repression of the Soviet era.
Small busts and statues of Stalin have been erected across Russia in recent years, but mostly in private locations and smaller towns. Such a large Stalin relief being erected in the core area of the capital is the first in many years.
The statue unveiled at the Taganka metro station is a replica of the relief work "The People's Gratitude to the Leader and Commander," which was destroyed in the 1960s. At that time, Stalin's successor Khrushchev was implementing a de-Stalinization policy, which led to the destruction of the original piece.
Taganka station opened in 1950, during the peak of Soviet adulation for Stalin, and the relief is a typical portrayal of Stalin from that era.
In the past, busts of Stalin have sparked controversy and protests in Russia, but since Russia's military action against Ukraine in 2022, most human rights and historical organizations that criticized the rehabilitation of this dictator have been disbanded.
Stalin implemented large-scale repression in the former Soviet Union, sending millions into labor camps, causing massive deaths, and creating man-made famine in Ukraine. Stalin led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953.