An unknown person decapitated a bust of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, placed in a park near Moscow, using a hammer, Russian media and police sources reported today, France Press reported, quoted by BTA.
„On Saturday in a park in Zvenigorod (a city forty kilometers west of the Russian capital, note ed.) a man in an excited state detached the head of a bust of Stalin with a hammer, an anonymous police source told the RIA Novosti news agency .
The press service of the police in the Moscow region informed RIA that the suspect is absconding and is being sought by the law enforcement agencies.
A local news channel on *Telegram* aired a video of the alleged perpetrator approaching the monument with a blunt object and striking it hard. Laughter and shouts in Russian are heard, but their meaning is not clearly understood.
The media “News carefully“ published a photo of the damaged bust of Stalin. The suspect also allegedly smashed a bust of Lenin in the same park, dislocating his signature chin, according to another photo provided by this source.
„Caution new“ reports that the Stalin monument was installed by a group of activists in the summer of 2023 without the consent of local authorities, who did not remove it, however, despite protests from local residents.
In modern Russia, the portrayal of the Soviet dictator responsible for massive repression that killed millions is controversial. Russian President Vladimir Putin has occasionally condemned the extremes of Stalinism, but the political line followed by the Kremlin has generally ignored them.
At the same time, the government actively extols the geopolitical and military power of the USSR in a narrative aimed at galvanizing the population, especially after the attack on Ukraine.
In history textbooks, the victims of political repression are minimized, and Stalin is mainly presented as a hero, thanks to whom the Soviet Union won the victory against Hitler.
Critics of this approach fall into the sights of the authorities. “Memorial“ – the major NGO documenting both Soviet repression and that of the modern regime was banned at the end of 2021.