Russia is attempting to rewrite the history of Stalin and the Soviet Union.

Even God cannot change the past.

Russian President Vladimir Putin seems determined to prove that the ancient Greek poet, Agathon (448 BC – 400 BC), was wrong when he uttered this statement.

That is why Putin is determined to rewrite his country's past and restore the reputation of one of its most controversial figures: Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin (1878-1953).

The latest step by Putin to rehabilitate Stalin, who ruled the former Soviet Union with an iron fist for three decades, is the unveiling of his statue in Moscow in mid-May.

Back to individual ultimatum

The Stalin Monument, flanked by workers and children who praise him while laying flowers, was installed inside the Taganskaya Underground Railway Station in Moscow.

The statue is a replica of the old statue that once adorned the subway station in the 1950s, it was reported. The Moscow Times.

"The experts recreated the composition from photos and archival documents," the Moscow daily reported.

The original monument was dismantled during the "de-Stalinization" period. This period began after the successor to the leader of the Soviet Union, Nikita Khrushchev (1894-1971), condemned the brutal repression of Stalin against real and imaginary opponents—which according to Khrushchev was due to paranoia and the persecution of individuals.

Khrushchev expressed his criticism of Stalin in 1956, during the 20th Congress of the Communist Party.

Since then, Stalin’s statues have been toppled, his name has been removed from the national anthem, and his body—which had been embalmed and placed in a grand mausoleum next to Lenin’s on Red Square—has been moved to a spot near the Kremlin wall.

However, as Putin rose to power, the image of Stalin began to make a comeback.

The evidence is that in the last 25 years, at least 108 Stalin monuments have been erected throughout Russia. The construction rate has accelerated since the start of the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, according to Russian historian Ivan Zheyanov. The New York Times.

Putin has also recently said that he is considering changing the name of Volgograd back to Stalingrad.

This announcement is surprising, as several years ago Putin himself acknowledged the crimes committed by Stalin.

"It is very important for all of us and future generations to know and remember this tragic period in our history, when entire social groups and all of society were brutally persecuted," Putin said about the repression of Stalin's supporters.

The newest monument for this controversial Soviet leader was inaugurated on the 80th anniversary of Victory Day, when Russia celebrates its victory over Nazi Germany; as well as the 90th anniversary of the opening of the Moscow Metro, which began operations during the Stalin regime.

Smart strategy to change the narrative

Stalin's role in World War II is one of the arguments used by the Russian government to rehabilitate the former Soviet dictator. This argument appears to be convincing to Russian citizens.

At least that was the variety of comments from Moscow residents interviewed by the BBC Russia editor, Steve Rosenberg.

"I think Joseph Stalin is unfairly hated. He has done much for our nation," answered a young man.

"Of course he is a tyrant, but he still proved his ability as a leader," added an older woman.

The Kremlin clearly ignores the controversial aspects of Stalin's role before and during the war, such as the fact that he signed the non-aggression pact with Nazi Germany in August 1939.

Through the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, Moscow and Berlin not only promised not to attack each other, but also divided Eastern Europe - starting with Poland, a country that was invaded by the forces of Adolf Hitler a few weeks later.

When Rosenberg asked his sources about persecution and thousands who died in the "gulag" (Soviet concentration and forced labor camps), he received various responses.

"We cannot blame Stalin alone, because it was all part of a system," said a young man.

"Nothing is perfect. He might have done it because he had no other choice," added a retiree.

Only one of the people interviewed acknowledged that the Stalin era was a "sad chapter in our history."

Stalin was responsible for what is known as the "Great Terror," a wave of famine that occurred between 1936 and 1938. During this period, it is estimated that 700,000 to 1.2 million people died, including soldiers, intellectuals, members of minority ethnic groups, and farmers.

The return of the Soviet Union

Putin's administration seems not only to want to clean up Stalin's reputation, but also that of the vast country under his rule: the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).

"The Soviet Union still exists legally," Kremlin advisor Anton Kobyakov recently said.

According to Kobyakov, the agreement signed in December 1991 by the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus at that time—Boris Yeltsin, Leonid Kravchuk, and Stanislav Shushkevich—was illegal.

"Since the Soviet Congress established the USSR in 1922, the USSR should be dissolved based on a decision from the same congress," he said.

Even though it sounds unreasonable, especially since the Soviet Union no longer exists as a legal entity for more than three decades, that idea has gained support among Russians who are nostalgic.

"The dissolution is illegal, so it must be revoked," said an ultranationalist, who was demonstrating on Red Square in Moscow with a red flag featuring a hammer and sickle.

In 2021, a Levada Center opinion poll found that 63% of Russian citizens—including Putin himself—viewed the dissolution of the Soviet Union as a "mistake."

However, what is the significance of considering the Soviet Union to still exist today?

According to the Kremlin advisor, Anton Kobyakov, the conflict in Ukraine is an internal Soviet issue, not a war between two countries.

"We want to return to the borders we had in 1945 and end this war," a Red Army veteran told the BBC's editor, Steve Rosenberg.

However, most Russian citizens realize that the revival of the state founded by Lenin seems difficult.

"I think that's unrealistic in the current political situation, because every country that was once part of the Soviet Union is now independent and autonomous. Do they want to go back to being part of the Soviet Union? I don't think so," said one of the sources.

For years, Putin has been reinterpreting the history of his country. In 2022, he even questioned the existence of Ukraine.

"Ukraine was fully and entirely created by Russia, specifically by the Bolsheviks and Communist Russia," he said at the time.

"This process began immediately after the 1917 revolution. Lenin and his collaborators carried it out in the most damaging way for Russia: by breaking it apart, and stripping away part of its historical territory," he added.

Rosenberg considers it impossible that "we will wake up one morning and suddenly the Soviet Union will be in power again."

However, he warned that the Kremlin's strategy appears to be an "effort by the Russian government to alter the past in order to justify the present."

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