Stalin's Victims Remembered as Dissent Faces Crackdown in Russia
Russians commemorated the victims of Stalinist terror at the Returning the Names event organized by Memorial, a rights and historical memory group that was shut down before Moscow launched its military campaign in Ukraine. The event, which involves reading out the names of people executed during Stalin's Terror, was banned from being held at the central Lubyanka Square. Instead, participants gathered at symbolic places associated with dissidents in Moscow and other Russian cities, as well as in European cities where Russian dissidents have fled. The event comes as Memorial reports a growing number of political prisoners in Russia, with thousands of Russians being detained, jailed, or fined for opposing the conflict in Ukraine.