Moscow blocks protest against restored Stalin monument

Moscow authorities have blocked a planned protest against a recently installed monument honouring Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, citing a COVID decree that still technically bans public gatherings.

The liberal opposition party Yabloko, which had organised the protest, said it had not received permission and published a photo of the official rejection notice.

"The authorities continue to refer to a decree issued by the mayor of Moscow on June 8, 2020, which upholds the earlier ban on mass gatherings due to the spread of the coronavirus epidemic," Yabloko said in a statement.

The party intends to take legal action against the decision and is collecting signatures calling for the monument's removal.

The piece, titled Gratitude of the People to the Leader and Commander, was unveiled in mid-May in Moscow's Taganskaya metro station to mark the system's 90th anniversary. It is a replica of a Soviet-era piece removed in the 1960s during the USSR's de-Stalinisation campaign.

The move has sparked a backlash from critics, who accuse the Kremlin of sanitising Stalin's legacy.

At the unveiling, Yabloko condemned the monument as a deliberate provocation.

"We insist that the memory of the victims of repression be preserved, and that the glorification of a tyrant is unacceptable," said party member Maxim Kruglov.

"The return of Stalinist symbols to Moscow is a mockery of history, of the descendants of the oppressed, and a disgrace to the city."

Human rights groups and historians continue to hold Stalin responsible for the deaths of millions through mass executions, forced labour camps and widespread political repression. He died in 1953 having come to power in 1924.

Russia's leadership has faced criticism for downplaying or distorting Stalin's crimes.

The Kremlin has largely silenced independent media and opposition voices in recent years. While Yabloko has not held seats in the national parliament since 2007, the party remains active at a local level.