Renaming Volgograd airport becomes an attempt to rehabilitate Joseph Stalin

The decree on renaming the Volgograd airport to “Stalingrad” signed by the Russian President fits into a series of conscious and unconscious attempts to rehabilitate the name of Stalin, but there is no real public demand for that, historians and human rights defenders note.

Analysts argue about President Putin’s goals in renaming airport in Volgograd

“I don’t think that rehabilitation of Joseph Stalin was a conscious goal of President Putin. As I understand it, there is a somewhat unstable situation here. There are quite a few Stalin fans among the Vladimir Putin’s ‘servants’ who are trying to think that Stalin’s promotion will help them stay in their chairs. However, they have never received any clear support from President Putin in this regard,” Yan Rachinsky, the chair of the “International Memorial”*, told the “Caucasian Knot”.

“If we talk about public opinion polls, then the example of the elections of recent years shows us that constructing public opinion is not a big deal for the authorities. However, real opinion polls show that the majority of citizens stand against renaming Volgograd,” Yan Rachinsky noted.

“Stalin’s reputation, despite the efforts of various well-wishers, is far from ideal”

The chair of the “International Memorial”* believes that there is no public demand for Stalin’s “tough methods.” “Globally speaking, people now know little about Joseph Stalin. These are some myths about a strong hand and an order. Although studies show that there was no order. If people understood what this order was, when 700,000 people were shot on false charges in absentia within a year and a half, I think that it would hardly cause much enthusiasm among the people. We are not talking about a real figure and not about real methods, but about some myth that is not based on reality. This exists in part of society. So far, we see support for these sentiments among a small part of people, mainly the elderly. And we see a large group of marginalized younger people who behave quite noisily, so they can give the impression of mass character, which does not correspond to reality,” Yan Rachinsky explained.

The activist has added that after the beginning of the special military operation (SMO), the processes of sacralization of the state and whitewashing of the Russian history intensified.

“We see that the interpretation of the history is becoming fraught with risks. There are already criminal prosecutions for insufficient respect for the actions of the Soviet Union during World War II. These formulations are absolutely elastic, but it is impossible to respect all the actions of the Soviet Union during World War II. We should remember the massacre in Katyn, the attack on Poland, and the occupation of the Baltics. However, talking about the above now may already be unsafe. In any case, attempts to give an unflattering interpretation of the actions of the Soviet Union in World War II are already encountering denunciations,” the chair of the “International Memorial”* emphasized.

On the contrary, Alexander Verkhovsky, the director of the “Sova” Information and Analysis Centre**, believes that the renaming of the airport in Volgograd is an attempt to rehabilitate Stalin. “As a matter of fact, the Russian President has already made one decision to rename the Volgograd airport to ‘Stalingrad.’ And no one was asked about that, no polls were organized. And yes, this is undoubtedly part of the rehabilitation, from my point of view. It is clear that the battle was Stalingrad, but renaming something back in honour of the leader of such a repressive regime – and this is recognized at a completely official level that the regime was repressive – seems completely unacceptable. If there is some kind of voting among the residents of Volgograd, then the people are free to call it whatever they want. Although I think that there will be those who want to challenge the name in court, because there are laws for the rehabilitation of victims of repression,” the “Caucasian Knot” was told by Alexander Verkhovsky.

He believes that public support for the Stalin’s “harsh methods” is demonstrated only by a small part of society. “There is always such a request, but it has never, as far as I remember, been supported by the majority of the population. You know, when asked about what management methods are needed, people often answer depending on the situation, on the context of the question. So far, there are no grounds and no data to say that there is a public request from the majority of the population for that,” the director of the “Sova” Information and Analysis Centre** noted.

“Victory in World War II is not a reason to refuse to condemn mass repressions”

At the same time, Alexander Verkhovsky agrees with the opinion expressed by Yan Rachinsky who claimed that with the beginning of the special military operation (SMO), the processes of attempts to whitewash the Russian history and sacralise the state have intensified. “It seems that yes, these processes have intensified. This is what the famous textbook ‘The Modern History of Russia’ states. In principle, from its very beginning, the President Putin’s idea was in such a positive synthesis, saying that today’s Russian Federation follows all the good that was in all periods. And in this sense, the task is obviously to find the good in the Soviet period. The most obvious good that catches the eye is the victory in World War II. And it is clear that this topic is important for our political regime. It is, of course, a fundamental concept. But in any case, this is not a reason to refuse to condemn mass repressions. And to rename something back to honour the name of Stalin seems to be disrespectful,” Alexander Verkhovsky pointed out.

"Of course, they would like to whitewash Stalin, but it is impossible to whitewash him"

Historians explain the desire to return Stalin to a positive image

What is happening now is an attempt to whitewash Joseph Stalin, says historian Nikita Sokolov. “There is a substitution of concepts. Every nation has a fundamental myth, that is, the final event associated with the emergence of the nation. For the modern French people, it is the storming of the Bastille. In modern Russia, such a founding moment should have been August 1991, when citizens in large cities said that they did not want the communist regime, and it collapsed. This is a point associated with the ideas of freedom, with the ideas of honour and dignity, of an independently acting person. And this, of course, does not suit the Vladimir Putin’s government at all. Therefore, the victorious May of 1945 has been chosen as the founding point. And note that it is not the war that is fading into the shadows, but the victory itself, and here we are, a nation of victors in 1945. If you build such an ideology, the founding point of the nation, then the white jacket of the Generalissimus of the Soviet Union immediately appears in the light. And this is a double game. Of course, they would like to whitewash Stalin, but it is impossible to whitewash him, but through the war it is still possible a little,” historian Nikita Sokolov told the “Caucasian Knot”.

The political process of the Stalin’s rehabilitation contradicts public sentiment, the historian believes. “Based on my personal observations, Stalin, as historical science knows him, is not at all uninteresting or unknown to the modern society. It’s been ten years since a book about the corruption of the Stalin era was published, and who read it? Few. Stalin is of no interest to anyone. Stalin’s avatar exists only for those people who would like order, first of all, who would like firm rules,” historian Nikita Sokolov noted.

The historian agrees that after the special military operation (SMO), the process of whitewashing the Russian history has intensified. “Yes, of course. The year before last, school textbooks edited by Medinsky were published. And all the crimes are swept under the carpet there. There are no criminals, everything happens by itself. Everything good happens by the will of the party and the government, and everything bad happens by itself,” historian Nikita Sokolov joked.

“Putin is not restoring the cult of Stalin, but is building a cult of war and military victories”

Historian Alexander Daniel does not agree with the opinion that the attempt to rehabilitate Stalin is a conscious process directed by someone. “It is rather a spontaneous bringing of the historical mythology cultivated by the today’s government into line with the current policy it is implementing. ‘The rehabilitation of Joseph Stalin’ is not the goal here, but the means. President Putin is not restoring the cult of Stalin, but is building a cult of war and military victories, and this is the main thing for him,” the “Caucasian Knot” was told by historian Alexander Daniel.

The historian believes there is certainly some public demand for the “normalization” of Stalinism. “As, incidentally, the opposite demand – for its eradication – has not gone away. However, it is impossible to assess in quantity the comparative support of those demands by the population in the unfree society. It seems to me that both tendencies, anti-Stalinist and pro-Stalinist, are being actively supported only by small groups of people. The vast majority of people are deeply indifferent to both of them," the specialist emphasized.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on May 2, 2025 at 01:20 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

*Included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) into the register of foreign agents. On December 29, 2021, by the decision of the Moscow City Court, the Russian legal entities of the “International Memorial” and the Human Rights Centre (HRC) “Memorial” were liquidated. Activists of the organizations have reported that both organizations will continue their work without forming legal entities.

**Included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) into the register of foreign agents. On August 17, 2023, the First Court of Appeal of General Jurisdiction approved the decision taken earlier in April by the Moscow City Court to liquidate the SOVA Human Rights Centre.