Putin’s love of Stalin should terrify us all

Excerpt

When Britain released the satirical film the Death of Stalin in 2017, Russia accused the British Government of waging a psychological war by seeking to insult Soviet history, and banned it almost immediately. Ironically, the Kremlin itself is now engaging in a psychological campaign against its own citizens using Stalin’s legacy.

Last week, a statue honouring Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin was unveiled in Moscow’s metro station. This is not the first time that Vladimir Putin has sought to glorify the authoritarian leader. More than 100 such statues have been erected across Russia. These monuments are emblematic of a decades-long Kremlin-led effort to rehabilitate Stalin’s image.

Dr. Ivana Stradner serves as a research fellow with the Barish Center for Media Integrity at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.