More than 40 Percent of Russians Now Say Stalin was ‘Most Outstanding Figure of All times and Peoples,’ the Levada Center Reports

Paul Goble

            Staunton, June 17 – Forty-two percent of Russians now identify Stalin as “the most outstanding figure of all times and peoples” in an open-ended poll conducted by the independent Levada Center polling agency, an increase of 18 percentage points since 1991 and putting the Soviet dictator far ahead of all others.

            In second place on the list is Vladimir Putin with 31 percent, almost double the figure of 15 percent in 2021; In third place, is Vladimir Lenin, whose identification as such has fallen from 31 percent in 1991 to 28 percent now (https://www.levada.ru/2025/06/17/samye-vydayushhiesya-lyudi-vseh-vremyon-i-narodov/).

            Russians overwhelmingly identified only other Russians as belonging in this category. Only two foreigners – Albert Einstein at five percent and Isaac Newton at four percent with both down from earlier ratings – were among the top 20 figures whom Russians were inclined to identify as such.