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Georgian woman ordered detained for defacing Stalin icon in Tbilisi

Reuters A court in Georgia has ordered five days’ detention for a woman who defaced a religious icon depicting Soviet leader Josef Stalin, an act which ignited large protests last month in the capital Tbilisi, her lawyers said. The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association confirmed in an email to Reuters that Natalia Peradze, also known as […]

Protest in Georgian capital amid anger over “desecration” of Stalin icon

Tbilisi, Georgia Reuters A large protest was held in Tbilisi on Saturday to demand harsh punishment for a woman accused of defacing a religious icon depicting Soviet dictator Josef Stalin which was recently-installed in the Georgian capital. The suspect is alleged to have splashed paint on the icon, which was on display in the city’s […]

Defacing of Stalin icon exposes deep divisions in his home country Georgia

People stand in front of an icon, an element of which depicts Soviet leader Joseph Stalin being blessed by Russian Orthodox saint Matrona of Moscow, and that was recently defaced with paint in an act of protest amid controversy over the icon’s apparent honouring of Stalin, at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Tbilisi, Georgia, on 10th January, 2024

Tbilisi. Georgia Reuters Georgian authorities are investigating the defacing of a recently-installed icon in Tbilisi’s main cathedral depicting Josef Stalin, a case that has exposed deep divisions in Georgia over the former Soviet dictator’s legacy in his homeland. An unknown culprit splashed paint on Tuesday on the icon, which has been displayed in Tbilisi’s Holy […]

Seventy years after death, Stalin’s polarising legacy looms large

Red carnations are placed under the bronze busts of Soviet military commanders Josef Stalin and Alexander Vasilyevsky, which were recently unveiled to mark the 80th anniversary of the Red Army's defeat of Nazi Germany's troops in the Battle of Stalingrad that became the deadliest and one of the most decisive fightings during World War Two, at a panorama museum in Volgograd, Russia, February 3, 2023. REUTERS/Kirill Braga

Moscow/Gori, Georgia Reuters On the eve of the 70th anniversary of Josef Stalin’s death, attitudes to the Soviet Union’s wartime leader remain mixed in the nations he once ruled with an iron fist. During three decades of dictatorial rule, Stalin oversaw rapid industrialisation and victory over the Nazis but also the deaths of millions in […]

UK’s Johnson begins election battle, vowing Brexit and casting rival as “Stalin”

Boris Johnson UK election campaign

London Reuters British Prime Minister Boris Johnson officially kicks off his election campaign on Wednesday with a promise to “get Brexit done” in contrast to his main rival, whom he compared to Soviet leader Josef Stalin. Britons will go to the polls on 12th December after parliament agreed to an early election last week, seeking […]