WW2-ANNIVERSARY/RUSSIA-STALIN BUS Soviet leader Joseph Stalin gains popularity ahead of WWII victory celebrations

Record ID: 156400

  • Title: WW2-ANNIVERSARY/RUSSIA-STALIN BUS Soviet leader Joseph Stalin gains popularity ahead of WWII victory celebrations
  • Date: 8th May 2015
  • Summary: ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA (MAY 7, 2015) (REUTERS) BUS WITH PICTURE OF SOVIET LEADER JOSEPH STALIN PARKED IN FRONT OF ARTILLERY MUSEUM STALIN'S PICTURE AND SIGN READING (Russian): VICTORY!
  • Embargoed: 23rd May 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA9TM31R86MRS67QZEKM3VNKYK7
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: The image of the former Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin appeared in the streets of Russia's second largest city of St. Petersburg, as the country prepares to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the World War Two victory.
    A mini-bus with the portrait of the war-time Commander-in-Chief and the USSR military in the background drove through the city centre on Thursday (May 7), as the campaigners gathered signatures in support of the memorial construction.
    "We are gathering signatures and are putting forward an initiative to construct a Stalin monument in Victory Park on the Moskovsky avenue," said Yevgeny Sazontsev, one of the campaign organisers.
    The Stalin bus, a project of Russia's Communist party, started cruising St. Petersburg streets in 2010 and continued in several other Russian cities.
    Men wearing Soviet military uniform walked through the popular streets of the city handing to people the 1945 victory day editions of the Communist party newspaper Pravda.
    On the streets of downtown St. Petersburg, resident Nikolay Malyarzhik said he thought the Stalin had turned Soviet Union into a mighty state.
    "Stalin in his time played a negative and a strong positive role. Still, in Stalin's time there were purges, I agree with you, but the power of Russia also increased in his time," he said, having signed the petition.
    Lyudmila Rukavishnikova came from the south Russian town of Volsk to honour the memory of her father, who died in the battle for Leningrad (currently St. Petersburg). She said patriotism was imposed on Soviet people.
    "Our childhood, you know, is scrap yards, trash cans, leftovers. (We) had no shoes, no clothes. And then they started the (process) of making patriots out of us from Russia. We were sent to the virgin lands, we were sent to the big communist construction sites. And as a result, I got old and my pension is extremely small, which makes it hard to live on it," she said.
    The legacy of Stalin's three-decade rule remains divisive, but the bravery of the Soviet troops and the endurance of the civilians trapped during the battle are, however, things on which almost all Russians can broadly agree and take pride - at a time when many Russians complain of big divisions in society.
    Stalin bus is expected to roll through St. Petersburg streets until May 9.
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