September 28, 2025

No Politics for a Politician


No Politics for a Politician
Celebrating victory, thanks to a Soviet leader.  The Russian Life files.

On September 18, Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a meeting with leaders of a handful of Duma political parties, said that the memory of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin should be venerated and "depoliticized" for his key role in Russia's victory in the Second World War.

"In general, everything related to the Great Patriotic War and Stalin's role in Victory must be kept in mind and depoliticized," said Putin. Although Stalin is infamous for his brutal repressions, "it is also unfair to forget the role this particular individual played in the victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War [Russia's usual term for World War II]."

Putin's comments highlight Russia's obsession with victory in the Second World War as a defining aspect of the country's history. In addition, they are part of a growing trend to rehabilitate one of the harshest dictators in history by deemphasizing some of the more inconvenient truths about Stalin's time in office and simply praising him as the author of victory.

Furthermore, this interpretation of Stalin is especially on the nose now, as Russia is more than three years into its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Putin, it seems, may be pointing to Stalin as a quintessential Russian hero, one whose decisive victory he wants to emulate.

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