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Articles on Stalin

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While communists make up the bulk of portrait carriers in Russia, officials are also increasingly putting in a good word for Joseph Staline. Alexey Borodin/Shutterstock

70 years after his death, Stalin’s ghost still haunts Russia

Stalin, who died on March 5, 1953, was partially rehabilitated in the decades that followed. These days, he is in some respects a source of inspiration for Vladimir Putin.
Vladimir Putin speaks at a rally in Moscow in March 2022, according to this Kremlin image, with a banner that says “For the world without Nazism! For Russia!” Kremlin Press Office/Handout/Andalou Agency via Getty Images

Putin’s propaganda is rooted in Russian history – and that’s why it works

For hundreds of years, Russia has elevated its political leaders as figureheads. That’s part of what makes its propaganda so convincing.
Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers his speech during the Victory Day military parade in Moscow, Russia, on May 9, 2021, marking the 76th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Europe. (Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

How Russia’s fixation on the Second World War helps explain its Ukraine invasion

Russia’s take on the Second World War is not merely for nationalist consumption. The actions of the Soviet Union in defeating Nazi Germany appear to be a blueprint for the Russian attack on Ukraine.
Crimean Tatars gathered for a rally commemorating the 70th anniversary of Stalin’s mass deportation, in Simferopol, Crimea, on May 18, 2014. AP Photo/Alexander Polegenko

Why Crimean Tatars are fearful as Russia invades Ukraine

A scholar who spent many years living with the Crimean Tatars explains their long history of persecution.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz sit far apart during talks in the Kremlin in Moscow a week before Russia invaded Ukraine. (Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Deep-rooted Russian fear of the West has fuelled Putin’s invasion of Ukraine

Just because deep-rooted Russian fears might not seem reasonable doesn’t mean they aren’t real in Vladimir Putin’s mind.
Above it, only skies? In it, only believers? Imagine that! Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

Why is it so hard for atheists to get voted in to Congress?

Despite growing numbers of non-religious Americans, self-declared atheists are few and far between in the halls of power – putting the US at odds with other global democracies.

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