Russia's New Stalin Center evokes pride, and revulsion by Anna Nemtsova, NBC News, May 17 https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/russia-s-new-stalin-center-evokes-pride-revulsion-n1267521 . . . The public rehabilitation of Stalin’s image reflects the social and political tensions that have gripped Russia in recent months. To some, the memory of Stalin suggests an era of national greatness, and President Vladimir Putin has promoted Stalin’s image as a way to deflect criticism of his own leadership, as he grapples with falling approval ratings, a sluggish economy and accusations of corruption. . . . Opinion polls conducted by the Levada Center, an independent polling organization based in Moscow, have shown that approximately 70 percent of Russians approve of Stalin and his policies.
This has come as a shock to some Russians. . . . In recent weeks, police have raided the offices and homes of Navalny’s supporters. Four editors of a Moscow student newspaper, DOXA, are currently facing up to three years in prison for “inciting” minors to join anti-government protests, which broke out in more than 100 Russian cities last winter. Some organizers of pro-Navalny rallies have fled the country, while many who remained in Russia are now facing prosecution. . . . Yet, while Putin may be encouraging the rehabilitation of Stalin’s image in order to increase support for his own leadership, some of today’s Stalin supporters are openly critical of Putin, as well. In Bor, as flags depicting Stalin’s mustachioed face flapped in the wind, speakers at the Stalin Center’s commemoration mocked today’s Kremlin as weak and subservient to Russia’s enemies, characterizing Putin’s hard-line foreign policy as not confrontational enough toward Western powers and criticizing him for the country’s current economic woes. . . . “Our crawling economic growth is a shame! Our population shrank by 670,000 last year. Five thousand businesses closed down in our region,” said Vladislav Yegorov, the first secretary of the Communist Party’s local branch. Russia’s oil-dependent economy went into recession during the Covid-19 pandemic last year, and millions of Russians have fallen below the poverty line. . . . -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#8630): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/8630 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/82922932/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
