The Kremlin silenced, as happened with the Bolshevik Revolution, the centenary of the death of Vladimir Lenin, whose figure became a hindrance to the current authorities, determined to review the disintegration of the Soviet Union.
Almost half of Russians (47%) have a positive opinion of the founder of the USSR, less than in the case of his successor, Josef Stalin, who has been rehabilitated by official historiography, according to a survey published on Friday by the Center for Studies of Public Opinion (Vtsiom). Regarding the work undertaken by Lenin, 36% of Russians believe it was beneficial; 19% consider him harmful to the country's development and 30% consider that he did good and bad things in equal measure.
Putin blames Lenin for drawing borders between Russia and Ukraine
The Kremlin, very reluctant to commemorate any anniversary linked to the 1917 Revolution, completely ignored the anniversary. There are no public events, conferences or large exhibitions. The only exhibition commemorating the anniversary takes place in the library of the Center for Sociopolitical History, in the north of Moscow. “Most young people don’t really know who Lenin is,” one of the librarians told the reporter.
Russian President Vladimir Putin also did not make any reference to the centenary in recent days, but criticized the decisions of Lenin, whom he criticized for the serious mistakes made in the founding of the USSR. Putin recalled that the leaders of the pro-Russian east of Ukraine expressed, at the time, their desire to be part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, but Lenin chose to integrate these territories into Ukraine, the origin of the current conflict. “The people living in these territories, of course, never saw themselves as anything other than part of Russia. It’s clear,” Putin said at a recent event with Russian mayors.
Mausoleum has few queues
Although entry is free, on the eve of the centenary there were no long queues to enter the marble mausoleum that houses the embalmed body of the communist leader like gold. As soon as you enter the mausoleum, a guard asks the visitor to take off their hat, remain silent and not take photos.
The visit consists of going down a staircase, looking quickly and running to the sarcophagus where Lenin's embalmed body is located and, without stopping, leaving the place. No one rushes visitors, however, at the Kremlin Necropolis, where the main Soviet leaders are buried, with the exception of Nikita Krushchev, who was ousted, and Mikhail Gorbachev, who signed the end of the USSR in 1991.
On the grave of Stalin, who accompanied Lenin in the mausoleum for several years, there were several flowers. In the bust of the dictator it is still possible to see how his nose was broken and replaced as soon as anti-Soviet sentiments calmed down.
In a demonstration that the Kremlin does not want any scares, the authorities closed the Christmas market that delighted Muscovites on the stones of Red Square. The center of the square was cordoned off by the police, who set up several vans in adjacent streets to avoid arrests. After all, Russia is a country at war, whose rear is the subject of continuous Ukrainian attacks and sabotage.
Communists pay homage to leader with flowers
Even without official support, Russian communists commemorated the date by placing flowers at the mausoleum, an event that took place amid strict security measures in Red Square. Hundreds of communists, those nostalgic for the Soviet Union and curious people went to the heart of Moscow to pay tribute to the Bolshevik leader, who died in 1924, as they do every January 21st.
“Lenin went to the other world, but he remained with humanity forever,” said Gennady Zyuganov, communist leader, in statements to the press on Red Square. Zyuganov also highlighted that the proletarian leader tried to create “a new world” governed by labor and not capital.
Party members told the reporter that the low temperatures, which hovered around minus 15 degrees, reduced the influx of activists and the general public. Still, communists of all ages fought the cold by waving hammer and sickle flags and singing Soviet songs. In addition, they placed large wreaths at the entrance to the mausoleum that houses Lenin's embalmed body, as well as flowers at Stalin's tomb, which is located between that marble building and the red walls of the Kremlin.
#Kremlin #ignores #centenary #Lenin39s #death #rehabilitating #Stalin
