[GoldenState_Rose]

Grudinin is a "great power" Stalinist. He does not like Marxism-Leninism, but he abuses the memory of World War II as a rallying point for Russians, who in fact are unable to move forward precisely because they're busy glorifying Stalin and the War rather than coming to terms with all the darkness, death, and trauma of it all. Whitewashing memories of the Gulag and silencing dissenting voices about the War narrative has not done the country any favors.

“I think Russian people should live better than the people we defeated in the war,” - Pavel Grudinin

I *loathe* absolutely LOATHE quotes like that. I know the spirit it comes from after having lived there. And it's evil.

Today the atmosphere is so toxic if you even suggest Stalin was bad, or point out crimes of the Red Army, or try to dredge up mention of the Gulag unwittingly, you can be punched in the face on the spot. No joke.

[goldstategop]

In a post-Communist Russia, the only thing every one can agree on is the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in WW II.

Beyond the consensus on national patriotism, there are deep divisions over the country’s direction.

No one should be fooled into thinking Putin or United Russia have managed to entirely bridge them.