A bronze bust of Joseph Stalin was unveiled in Moscow on Friday amid increasing concerns in Russia that the authorities are seeking to whitewash the Soviet dictator's crimes. Stalin's sculpture - along with those of major Soviet leaders like Vladimir Lenin and Nikita Khrushchev - was unveiled outside a museum in central Moscow during a ceremony attended by lawmakers.
The seven sculptures spanning the history of the USSR from Lenin to Mikhail Gorbachev are the latest addition to the recently opened "Alley of Rulers" composition that already features 33 Russian rulers.
The display shows heads of state from the Norman warrior Rurik, who founded the first Russian state, to Alexander Kerensky, the head of the provisional government before Lenin seized power in 1917. It is an initiative of the state-backed Russian Military History Society whose chairman Vladimir Medinsky is known for his fiercely nationalist views.