Russians are Tired of Talk about the Past, Makarkin Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Feb. 1 – A VTsIOM poll about the possibility that Volgograd might be renamed Stalingrad not only shows the Russians are opposed to that by more than two to one but also that they are tired of leaders talking only about the past, Aleksey Makarkin says. People live in the present and want to know about the future. For them, the past is “not a priority.”

            According to the Moscow commentator, “in principle people don’t want cities and streets renamed” in the first instance because of the expense involved. That is the “decisive” objection not only in this case but in many others. And the longer they’ve lived with one name, the less reason they see for changing it (rosbalt.ru/posts/2023/02/01/1983033.html).

            He says that the case of Volgograd-Stalingrad also highlights the nature of “present-day Russian Stalinism.” That trend is not about Stalin as a personality but “bears a more complex character and includes within itself a powerful anti-elite component,” something “not connected with the concept of Stalin as a figure from the past.”

            And the VTsIOM survey proves that: Those Russians who favor renaming Volgograd Stalingrad justified their views by mentioning Stalin personally. Only three percent did that. Far more talked about the name being part of our history (14 percent) or about the need to remember the heroism of the people during the Great Fatherland War (12 percent).