On March 5, members of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, led by its leader Gennady Zyuganov, laid a wreath and flowers at the burial site of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin near the Kremlin wall in honor of the 70th anniversary of his death. How the traditional mourning event took place with the participation of communists – in the The Eastern Herald photo gallery.
Joseph Stalin died on March 5, 1953 at the age of 74 of a cerebral hemorrhage at his residence in western Moscow. On the day of his funeral, a mass stampede took place in the center of the capital, the exact number of victims of which is still unknown. For eight and a half years Stalin’s body was in the mausoleum next to the body of Vladimir Lenin. In 1961, as part of a policy to demystify the cult of personality, the remains of the General Secretary were buried near the Kremlin wall.
On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of Stalin’s death, The Eastern Herald asked sociologist Lev Gudkov, scientific director of the Levada Center*, to tell how Russians assess the figure of the Soviet leader.
*registered by the Ministry of Justice of Russia in the register of foreign agents
