Photo:
RIA Novosti
The President of Russia Vladimir Putin, answering the question of American Director Oliver stone in the film channel Showtime, told about the complex attitude to the personality of the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin.
“Stalin was a product of his era. As much as anything to demonize and much else, on the other hand, to speak of its merit in the victory over Nazism,” Putin said.
Speaking of demonization, he compared Stalin with the British ruler Oliver Cromwell and the French Emperor Napoleon, noting that in their countries these figures they idolize.
“It seems to me that the excessive demonization of Stalin is one of the ways of attack on the Soviet Union and Russia. To show that today’s Russia bears some birthmarks of Stalinism. We all carry some birthmarks. So what?”, — wondered the head of state.
According to him, “the Russian capital has changed.
“Of course, in the minds of some, that remains. But that doesn’t mean we have to forget all the horrors of Stalinism, associated with the concentration camps and the destruction of millions of their compatriots”, — said Putin.
He noted that his parents admired Stalin as “the vast majority of citizens of the former Soviet Union.”
Earlier it was reported that half of Russians approve of the actions of Stalin during the war.