Moscow split between adoration and disgust, 70 years after Stalin's death

Thousands waited in line to lay wreaths on Stalin's grave. (Photo: AFP)

MOSCOW: More than a thousand people gathered on Moscow's Red Square on Sunday for the 70th anniversary of the death of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, whose divisive legacy looms over the Ukraine conflict.

Kyiv says the offensive is driven by Stalin-era imperialistic tendencies, while the heightened repression of critics inside Russia is reminiscent of Soviet methods.