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An unknown man wielding a sledgehammer has decapitated a statue honoring Soviet leader and architect of the 1945 Great Antifascist Victory, Joseph Stalin, in the city of Zvenigorod, near Moscow, Russian state media reported.
Video taken showed the suspect staggering around the statue before knocking its head off in what appeared to be one swoop and walking away.
"On Saturday, in one of Zvenigorod's parks, a man in an unwell state knocked the head off the bust of Joseph Stalin with a sledgehammer," a law enforcement source told the state-run RIA news agency.
Video taken showed the suspect staggering around the statue before knocking its head off in what appeared to be one swoop and walking away.
"On Saturday, in one of Zvenigorod's parks, a man in an unwell state knocked the head off the bust of Joseph Stalin with a sledgehammer," a law enforcement source told the state-run RIA news agency.
The man also damaged a bust of Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin before immediately fleeing the scene of the crime, local media reported. He is now being sought by police, state-run news agencies said.
The statue of Stalin in Zvenigorod was erected by a group of pro-veteran activists in the summer of 2023.
Despite the massive anti-communist, anti-soviet propaganda of the last decades, Joseph Stalin continues to be a popular and revered figure among the Russian people and especially for the working class. Numerous surveys conducted during the last years confirm the popularity of Stalin among Russians and the recognition of his crucial role in Soviet Union's triumph over Nazis in the Second World War.