Soviet tyrant Stalin glorified on Crimea billboards ahead of Victory Day
Crimean Tatars were deported to Kazakhstan by Stalin in the 1940's
Communist activists in the Crimean port of Sevastopol decided to highlight the historic ties with Russia, installing images of the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin on billboards around town set up around the city prior to the 70th anniversary of the WWII victory.
Pictures in the background of the billboards shows wartime and contemporary views of the city with the inscription "Glory to the Victors!" The city of Sevastopol was honoured with the title of "Hero City" for the efforts its defenders during WWII.
The first secretary of the local committee of the communist party, Vasily Prokhomenko, said the idea came to the party naturally.
Vasily Prokhomenko, Sevastopol Communist Party: "Such a question did not even occur to us, to celebrate the Victory Day, moreover the 70th anniversary without the commander-in-chief. So naturally on our billboards where we congratulate our Sevastopol veterans on Victory Day, there is the commander-in-chief, Joseph Vessarionovich Stalin,"
However the unusual Victory Day congratulations were received differently among Sevastopol residents.
Andrei Golubkov, Sevastopol resident: "Stalin was an outstanding personality in his time. But now a lot of time has passed, and there are fairly few veterans left, and I think (they) could have made a picture of those people who are still alive, men and women who took part in this war, and I think it would be much better,"
Valeria Tokmacheva, local resident: "I can say that my attitude to the billboards with Stalin's image is negative, because I think there should be the posters of our veterans on such billboards, our heroes, who should really matter to our future generation,"
Stanislav Kvitkin, local resident: "This was everyone's victory, so I think there should be images of the veterans of the Great Patriotic war on the billboards,"
The indigenous Crimea Tatars object to the glorification of Stalin. They were deported from Crimea in 1944 by Stalin, with almost half dying from hunger, thirst and disease and were only allowed to return in the 1990's. Around five million Ukrainians starved under the orders of Stalin between 1932-33.
