Volgograd residents dispute about restoration of bas-relief with Stalin

The restoration of a bas-relief with a portrait of Stalin on the facade of the Volgograd Medical University has become a sign of Stalinism revival and insults the memory of repression victims, some residents of Volgograd have pointed out. Their opponents object that monuments merely reflect history.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in 2023, participants in the May Day rally in Volgograd advocated renaming the city to Stalingrad, treating the data on Stalin's mass repressions as exaggerated.

A bas-relief of Stalin has been restored on the facade of the above university. This building was built in 1953, and housed the regional party school for seven years, Andrei Kudinov, a local historian, has explained.

Despite his critical attitude towards Stalin's crimes, the historian believes that "the fight against monuments is the lot of a weak nation." "It's not about cultural objects, but about specific actions of politicians and people," Mr Kudinov has concluded.

Alevtina, 70, a pensioner, believes that "Stalin should not be in the city." "My maternal grandfather's family suffered during the dispossession. They were sent to Siberia. On the way, their two little daughters died. They could have been my aunts ... People were deprived of life on the orders of some scoundrel," she said.

The facade of the Volgograd Medical University will be the "starting point for a solemn march of Stalinism" across the country, Vladimir, 43, an engineer, has forecasted.

In his turn, Alexei Surkov, a Volgograd resident, believes that restoration of Stalin's image in the city is "an indicator of a civilized approach to history." "Those times have passed; the tyrant has been condemned. We all know that. But monuments should remain," he has stated.

Yan Rachinsky, a historian, has spoken out sharply against restoration of Stalin's image. According to his version, authorities "want to forget the terrible pages of history."