Lenin and Stalin in Contemporary Russia: What the Data Actually Shows

More than thirty years after the counterrevolutionary upheaveals and the subsequent dissolution of the Soviet Union, public attitudes in today's Russia toward its most emblematic leaders remain remarkably stable —and, in some respects, increasingly favorable. 

 

The available polling data, primarily from the Levada Center, does not support the idea that decades of fierce anti-Soviet and anti-communist discourse have fundamentally reshaped mass perceptions.

 

Grover Furr: The Betrayal of the Communist Movement in the Soviet Union

Speech by Professor Grover Furr to the Institute for the Critical Study of the Society (ICSS) of Oakland, California, on the subject "The Betrayal of the Communist Movement in the Soviet Union": 

Until the collapse of the Soviet Union, communists had always believed that the only way a socialist state could be destroyed was by hostile forces from the outside. Now we know that this was tragically wrong. The Soviet Union was destroyed by betrayal from within. 

Monument dedicated to Stalin erected in Melitopol

A monument dedicated to Soviet leader and architect of the 1945 Great Antifascist Victory, Joseph Stalin, was erected in Melitopol, Zaporizhzhia Oblast, on May 8, on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of Victory Day. 

The statue carries a plaque that reads: "To the organizer and inspirer of the victory of the Soviet people over the Nazi invaders, Generalissimo of the Soviet Union Joseph Stalin, from grateful descendants."

The True Stalin

We republish an interesting opinion article on Joseph Stalin written on May 2, 2025, on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the Great Antifascist Victory, by historian and geopolitical analyst Christine Lynn, editor of the americanorthodoxchristian.com. (The views and opinions expressed in the article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect, in their entirety, the views of the present site)

By Christine Lynn 

Monument in honor of Joseph Stalin to be installed in the Russian town of Mozhaysk

A new monument dedicated to Soviet leader Joseph Stalin will be installed in Mozhaysk, a town approximately 100 km west of Moscow, local media reported.

The bust of Stalin and the pedestal have been delivered to the city and are being installed at the location agreed upon by the administration, in the Glory Square in the center of Mozhaysk, not far from the Eternal Flame. 

The inauguration of the monument is going to take place on 8 May, at 11 am local time. 

The Crisis of Soviet History of the Stalin Period and What We Should Do About It

Speech by Grover Furr

 

The history of the first workers’ state, the USSR, during its heroic period, when it was led by Joseph Stalin – that history is withheld from us. It is smothered by lies from dishonest and very influential sources.

How do we know this is so? What is the situation? Who are the liars? Why is this important? Finally, what should we do about it? The future of the world’s working class and the fight for an egalitarian world of what Marxist researcher Charles Andrews has called “No Rich, No Poor,” depends on what we do. 

I began to discuss this question in an earlier article titled “Marxists Behaving Badly” which you can download from my Home Page. However, that was a very partial discussion of this enormous challenge to all of us. In my talk today I intend to confront this crisis more directly.

Russians honor Stalin's 145th birth anniversary

Stalin's grave in Kremlin Necropolis

Despite the usual freezing temperatures, hundreds of Muscovites gathered on Saturday 21/12 in Red Square in order to commemorate the 145th birth anniversary of Joseph Stalin. 

Waiving soviet flags, holding portraits of Stalin and flowers, Communist Party members, workers, men and women, people of every age created a long queue in order to pay tribute to the late leader's grave at the Kremlin Necropolis. Similar events took place in other Russian cities as well, including Saint Petersburg (Leningrad). 

Stalin is their nightmare: European Parliament regrets "growing cult of Stalin and related increase in Soviet nostalgia in Georgia"!

Joseph Stalin, the architect of Soviet Union's triumph over Nazism in the Second World War and the man who transformed the USSR from a backward, mainly agricultural country, into an industrial superpower, continues, 70 years after his death, to frighten capitalists and their political servants throughout the world. 

In a recently revised version of a draft resolution on Georgia, the European Parliament added a passage speaking about the "growing cult of Stalin and related increase in Soviet nostalgia in Georgia". 

Grover Furr's Khrushchev Lied to be published in Greek

Grover Furr's most popular book, "Khrushchev Lied", is going to be published in Greek language (Automorfosi Publishers, Athens) in the beginning of September 2024 under the title "The Lies of Khruschev" (Τα ψέματα του Χρουστσόφ).

In his “Secret Speech” of February 1956 Nikita Khrushchev accused Joseph Stalin of immense crimes. Khrushchev’s speech was a body blow from which the worldwide communist movement never recovered. It changed the course of history.

Russia: Joseph Stalin's statue vandalized in Zvenigorod

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An unknown man wielding a sledgehammer has decapitated a statue honoring Soviet leader and architect of the 1945 Great Antifascist Victory, Joseph Stalin, in the city of Zvenigorod, near Moscow, Russian state media reported.

Video taken showed the suspect staggering around the statue before knocking its head off in what appeared to be one swoop and walking away.

"On Saturday, in one of Zvenigorod's parks, a man in an unwell state knocked the head off the bust of Joseph Stalin with a sledgehammer," a law enforcement source told the state-run RIA news agency.

Was Stalin poisoned by the West? Communist Party in Russia calls for probe over Soviet leader's death

On the occasion of the 71st death anniversary of Joseph Stalin, the "Communists of Russia" party, appealed to the FSB and the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation with a request to check the possible involvement of Western intelligence services in the death of the great Soviet leader, RIA Novosti reported. 

“The party appealed with a request to check the possible involvement of Western intelligence services in the death of Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin,” says Sergey Malinkovich, chairman of the party.

Saint Joseph: Anti-communists in Georgia run amok over Stalin icon in Tbilisi Cathedral

Even as an icon, Joseph Stalin causes panic to all kinds of anti-communists everywhere in the world. Here is an interesting story coming Tbilisi, Georgia:  Local authorities are investigating the defacing of a recently-installed icon in Tbilisi's main cathedral depicting the legendary Soviet leader.

An unknown culprit splashed paint on Tuesday on the icon, which has been displayed in Tbilisi's Holy Trinity Cathedral for several months, Georgia’s Interpress news agency reported. Footage on social media showed the icon defaced with blue paint. 

Good news from Russia: Monuments dedicated to Stalin are on the rise

By Nikos Mottas

At least 110 monuments dedicated to Soviet leader and architect of the Great Antifascist Victory of the Peoples, Joseph Stalin, have been erected in Russia. 

According to “Mozem Obyasnit”, 95 monuments of Stalin,  including 22 full-scale statues, have been installed in various regions of the country during the last 24 years. 

Anti-Stalin Falsehoods from a “Socialist” Writer

Prof. Grover Furr refutes Alex Skopic’s article “Stalin Will Never Be Redeemable"

 

By Grover Furr.

 

In the January – February 2023 issue of Current Affairs there appears an article titled “Stalin Will Never Be Redeemable”. Its subtitle reads:

 

Stalin was socialism’s worst enemy. History is easily forgotten, so nostalgia for the “Man of Steel” needs to be guarded against.

70th anniversary of Stalin's death: The announcement of his death on PRAVDA, 6 March 1953

PRAVDA, 6 March 1953:

"Dear Comrades and Friends: The Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, the USSR Council of Ministers and the Presidium of the USSR Supreme Soviet announce with profound sorrow to the Party and all working people of the Soviet Union that at 9:50 p.m. 5 March, Iosif Vissarionovich STALIN, Chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers and Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, died after a grave illness.

The heart of Lenin’s comrade-in-arms and the inspired continuer of Lenin’s cause, the wise leader and teacher of the Communist Party and the Soviet people, Joseph Vissarionovich STALIN, has stopped beating.

Grover Furr: Message for Nikos Mottas' book on Stalin and Anti-communism

Message sent by Professor Grover Furr on the occasion of the presentation of Nikos Mottas' book titled "Yes, but Stalin..." in Athens:

"I am glad to hear that Nikos Mottas’ book exposing and opposing the attacks on the Soviet Union, especially on the period of Soviet history when Joseph Stalin was the leader of the Communist Party and, for some period, of the government of the Soviet Union.

Stalin Never Said These Words: Top 5 Fake Quotes

Only a handful of people in world history have been vilified and demonized as much as Joseph Stalin. 

 

The Bolshevik revolutionary and leader of the Soviet Union from 1927 to 1953 continues to haunt the bourgeois class, while fascists, trotskyites, social democrats and opportunists of every kind still tremble before his name. Almost 70 years after his death, Stalin remains a subject of persistent slanders, lies, distortions and propaganda.

Within this context, dozens of quotes have been deliberately misattributed to Koba in an effort to spread confusion. Some of the most common are the following:

Stalin statue erected by residents in Georgian village

No matter how hard the anti-communist and anti-soviet propaganda tries to slander him, the name and legacy of Joseph Stalin remains respected by the majority of people in the former USSR Republics. His native Georgia couldn't be an exception.

Recently, despite the objections of local authorities, residents in the Georgian village of Varani, in Gori municipality, erected a monument dedicated to the legendary Soviet leader. 

Jean-Jacques Marie vs Grover Furr on Joseph Stalin

Jean-Jacques Marie and Grover Furr.

In December 2021, British journal "Historical Materialism" published reviews of two books ("Yezhov vs Stalin" and "Khrushchev Lied") written by American professor Grover Furr. The reviews are signed by French historian, specialized on Soviet History, Jean-Jacques Marie. 

According to professor Furr, "Historical Materialism" declined to publish his answer to Marie's reviews which, as he states, "are full of crude personal insults, attempts at sarcasm and full of shocking errors". 

Russia: Workers honored Stalin's 142nd birthday

Despite snow, the severe cold weather and the pandemic restrictions, hundreds of working men and women in Russia paid tribute to Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin on his 142nd birth anniversary on December 21. 

In many Russian cities, workers, members and cadres of Communist Parties, laid flowers to monuments dedicated to the Soviet leader, expressing their admiration and gratitude to Stalin despite the decades of anti-Soviet, anti-Stalinist propaganda.