The role of Stalin in history is positively estimated by 70% of Russians, a survey by the Levada Center showed, RBC reports citing a study. This is a record for all the years of relevant research. Almost half of the respondents are ready to justify the "repression" of the Stalin era.
In March, sociologists of the Levada Center conducted another survey on the attitude of Russians to the figure of Joseph Stalin. The survey showed that in 2019, the total level of a positive attitude towards the Soviet leader reached the maximum figure for all the years of research: every second survey participant (51%) declared his admiration for Stalin, respect or sympathy for him. The most significant growth (by 12 percentage points) fell on “respect” - such an attitude towards Stalin in 41% of respondents, and it is the most common.
The share of those who have a negative attitude towards Stalin, experiencing irritation, fear or disgust, is three times lower - 14%.
A positive attitude towards the Soviet leader and his role in the history of the country was fixed at the level of a new social norm. If previously the population avoided expressing concrete assessments or found it difficult to answer, now positive opinions about the leader are increasingly expressed or supported. At the same time, the level of a positive attitude towards Stalin is higher than that of Brezhnev, Gorbachev, Yeltsin and others combined.
Stalin is perceived in society as a defender of the oppressed. The population now feels increasingly abandoned. Stalin's figure begins to be perceived as a symbol of justice and an alternative to the current government, which is evaluated as unfair, cruel and not caring about people, sociologists say.
Last year’s survey by the Levada Center showed that the number of Russians who believe that the Stalin leadership was to blame for the large number of people killed in the USSR during the Great Patriotic War was four times lower than in 1991. In June 2018, VTsIOM presented a list of figures of the beginning of the twentieth century, causing sympathy from the Russians, Stalin (51%) and Lenin (49%) took the first places.
Source: https://www.rbc.ru/politics/16/04/2019/5cb0bb979a794780a4592d0c
