Moscow mayor defends Stalin poster campaign

A figure blamed for the deaths of millions of Soviet citizens in the prison camps and forced collectivization, may be commemorated soon.

MOSCOW, March 2, 2010 (AFP) - Moscow's mayor Tuesday defended the city's controversial plans to decorate the city centre with posters of Joseph Stalin during the World War II victory celebrations in May.

The city has unveiled plans to put up the posters and erect information points commemorating Stalin's role in the war during parades that are planned for the 65th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany on May 9.

If realised, the plans would break a major taboo in Russia of promoting a figure who is blamed for the deaths of millions of Soviet citizens in the Gulag prison camps and forced collectivization.

Mayor Yury Luzhkov confirmed that the poster campaign would go ahead, despite criticism from officials including parliamentary speaker Boris Gryzlov and human rights campaigners.

"I'm not an admirer of Stalin, but I am an admirer of objective history," Luzhkov told the city parliament, adding: "We should not erase this or that figure from history," the ITAR-TASS news agency reported.

Luzhkov criticised the media reaction to the story, calling it "a bacchanalia," the RIA Novosti news agency reported.

The poster campaign earlier provoked criticism from Gryzlov, a leader of the ruling United Russia party.

"The ambiguous role that Stalin played in the life of our country will not be corrected by posters," he told the Interfax news agency.

Stalin recently came fifth in a poll by the public opinion research centre VTsIOM seeking the greatest idol of modern Russians.

In August last year, an inscription praising Stalin was restored in a Moscow metro station, sparking outrage from liberals.