Today marked the 130th birthday of the infamous leader of the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin.

Russian communists, many of them elderly, have been celebrating his anniversary, honouring him as a great leader who brought victory to the country by defeating the Nazis.

He is also remembered by his admirers for setting in motion the industrialisation of the Soviet Union.

A hardcore of his followers have a high opinion of him as a strong leader. However, a majority insists that today’s Russia does not need a leader like Stalin.

Stalin is mostly remembered as the Soviet Union’s most feared leader under whose brutal and bloody rule an estimated 20 million Soviet citizens perished.

In the Kremlin’s strongest condemnation in recent years of Soviet repression , Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said young people are not learning enough about the bloodbath that reached its peak under Joseph Stalin.

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