Respect among Russians for Josef Stalin has surged to the highest level of President Vladimir Putin's era, with 70 percent saying his rule had been good for the country, according to a poll tracking attitudes toward the Soviet dictator.
A record 51 percent viewed Stalin positively in March, up from 40 percent a year earlier, the survey published Tuesday by the Moscow-based Levada Center showed. The proportion regarding him with admiration, respect or sympathy was the highest since it began the survey in April 2001, Levada said on its website.
"Nostalgia over the collapse of the Soviet Union is at a peak this year. In addition, Stalin is seen as a figure who ensured social justice," something Russians are increasingly seeking amid discontent with falling living standards and a government reform of pensions, said Karina Pipia, an analyst at Levada. Even so, the people who admired Stalin "don't really want to go back to those times," she said.