In Russia have already been placed 110 monuments in honor of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin. 95 of them have been installed during the rule of Vladimir Putin, while the pace of construction of monuments to Stalin doubled after the annexation of Crimea in 2014. These statistics are presented by the website “Mozem obiasnit”.

The website has compiled a complete list of Stalin’s monuments which have been installed in public places (with the exception of museums). According to the list, only 9% of the Stalin monuments were installed during the Soviet period, while the vast majority of them appeared in the last 20 years, the years of Vladimir Putin’s rule.

Yesterday in the Tverskaya region, at the place of the monument to the victims of the Stalinist persecutions, the bust of Stalin and a number of other Soviet leaders were placed. Those who installed the bust claim that it is part of an exhibition, but it was not immediately clear whether the bust will be permanent. This bust is the fourth to be placed in Russia after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In fact, the website Mozem obiasnit points out that the inauguration of each such monument takes place under the guise of war propaganda slogans.

In the 1990s only five monuments to Stalin had been erected. About four monuments are erected to Putin a year. This number increased after the annexation of Crimea (in which there is also a monument to Stalin, but it is not mentioned in the list).

The top three regions in terms of population where there are busts of Stalin are North Ossetia, Dagestan and Yakutia. As a rule, monuments are not erected in central squares or streets. A characteristic monument of Stalin is considered to be the bust, which is placed on the initiative of some individuals or organizations such as the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, while they are often placed in the vicinity of museums or private estates. However, more and more recently monuments to Stalin have been placed at the initiative of the local authorities, while public figures are present at their inauguration.