Monument to Soviet dictator Josef Stalin in Moscow metro stirs debate
The life-size wall sculpture in Moscow's Taganskaya metro station depicts Stalin standing on Moscow's Red Square surrounded by a crowd of Soviet citizens looking at him in admiration, and is a recreation of a monument that was unveiled in the same station in 1950, three years before Stalin died.
The Moscow metro said that the original monument to Stalin had been "lost" in 1966 when the Taganskaya metro station hosting it had been reconfigured.
Nearly 700,000 people were executed in Stalin's 1937-38 Great Terror amid show trials and purges of his real and perceived enemies. Many other Soviet citizens were sent to the Gulag, a grim network of prison camps, spread across the world's largest country.
The Moscow metro said in a statement that the new version of the monument, which was presented to the public on May 15, was one of its "gifts" to passengers to mark the 90th anniversary of the sprawling, ornate and famously efficient transport system.
The work's original title, "Gratitude of the People to the Leader and Commander,' was dedicated to Stalin's role in delivering victory for the Soviet Union in World War Two, the 80th anniversary of which Russia marked with pomp this year.
"This man (Stalin), he created a lot," said Yevgeny Ivanov, a Moscow resident, who had come to look at the new monument on Wednesday.
"He has something to be proud of. And it is not for us to tear it down. A man did something - we must respect what he did."
Kirill Frolov, another resident of the capital, said he accepted that Stalin's record was mixed and that you couldn't call him "good."
But he said that Stalin's role as a victor in World War Two and his successful industrialisation of the Soviet Union meant he had achieved real results and deserved to be remembered.
"This man did more for our country than anyone else. That's why I think that this (the new monument) is good and there should be more... Because the generation of, say, the 2000s and later, they don't really understand at all who this is."
Others condemned the monument.
The Moscow branch of the liberal Yabloko party issued a formal protest against what it called the return of a monument to "a tyrant and a dictator" and demanded that the Moscow metro focus on commemorating the victims of Stalin's repressions instead.
"The return of symbols of Stalinism to Moscow is spitting in the face of history and an act of mockery against the descendants of the repressed," Yabloko said in a statement.
Unidentified individuals initially left two signs at the monument containing quotes from Russian President Vladimir Putin and former president Dmitry Medvedev which were critical of Stalin. They were later removed.
DE-STALINISATION
Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev denounced Stalin for his brutality and crimes in 1956 and images of Stalin would later be systematically removed as part of a de-Stalinisation campaign. In recent years, some monuments to Stalin have begun to reappear in some places though his legacy remains deeply divisive.
Alexander Zinoviev, a researcher and expert on Soviet architecture, said he felt the new monument and the period it evoked had some parallels with the current mood inside Russia at a time when it is locked in a standoff with the West over the war in Ukraine.
"It is the same self-isolation, it is the same conservative ideology and reliance on our own strength," he said.
"And this theme with Stalin, with his aesthetics...that we need to trust our leader and be happy and not criticise those in power, it is very in tune with our time." REUTERS
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In recent decades, defence innovation has been a powerful driver of economic progress. Tech like the internet, GPS, semiconductors and jet engines originated in military research programs before transforming civilian life. Hit by high energy prices, a slowdown in demand for its exports and competition from China, Germany's $4.75 trillion economy contracted over the last two years. Expanding military research could provide an economic fillip. "We just need to get to this mindset: a strong defense industrial base means a strong economy and innovation on steroids," said Markus Federle, managing partner at defence-focused investment firm Tholus Capital. ESCAPING 'THE VALLEY OF DEATH' Risk aversion among European investors had in the past disadvantaged startups, which struggled to get the capital they need to survive the 'valley of death' – the critical early stage when costs are high and sales low. But a boost in defence spending by European governments following Russia's invasion of Ukraine has investors looking for opportunities. Europe now boasts three start-ups with a unicorn valuation of more than $1 billion: Helsing, German drone maker Quantum Systems, and Portugal's Tekever, which also manufactures drones. "There's a lot of pressure now on Germany being the lead nation of the European defense," said Sven Kruck, Quantum's chief strategy officer. Germany has become Ukraine's second-biggest military backer after the United States. Orders that might once have taken years to approve now take months and European startups have had the opportunity to test their products quickly in the field, several sources said. Venture capital funding of European defence tech hit $1 billion in 2024, up from a modest $373 million in 2022, and is expected to surge even more this year. "Society has recognized that we have to defend our democracies," said Christian Saller, general partner at HV Capital, an investor in both ARX and Quantum Systems. Venture capital funding has grown faster in Germany than elsewhere, according to a data analysis by Dealroom for Reuters. German defence startups have received $1.4 billion in the last five years from investors, followed by UK, the data shows. Jack Wang, partner at venture capital firm Project A, said many German defence startups - rooted in the country's engineering prowess - are good at integrating established components into scalable systems. "Quality of talent in Europe is extremely high, but as a whole, there's no better country, no better talent that we've seen other than in Germany," he said. Weakness in Germany's automotive industry means there is production capacity to spare, including in the Mittelstand: the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that form the backbone of Germany's economy. 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