Russia has successfully staged a huge military parade to commemorate the 70th anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany in a conspicuous show of military might. But the Kremlin festivities were effectively clouded by the boycott of Western countries led by the then Soviet Union's World War-II allies for Moscow's meddling in Ukraine. The occasion, nonetheless, has thrown up an opportunity for Russia's communists to unveil bust to Josef Stalin. Piqued by increasing Western belligerence, Putin, in other words, has countenanced the late Soviet dictator's hero status among ordinary Russians.