Decommunization in Russia

Decommunization in Russia is the process of dealing with the communist legacies in terms of institutions and personnel that tends towards breaking with the Soviet past. Compared with the decommunization efforts of the other former constituents of the Eastern Bloc and the Soviet Union, it has been restricted to half-measures, if conducted at all.^[1]

Notable anti-communist measures in the Russian Federation include the banning of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (and the creation of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation) as well as changing the names of some Russian cities back to what they were before the 1917 October Revolution (Leningrad to Saint Petersburg, Sverdlovsk to Yekaterinburg and Gorky to Nizhny Novgorod),^[2] though others were maintained, with Ulyanovsk (former Simbirsk), Tolyatti (former Stavropol) and Kirov (former Vyatka) being examples. Even though Leningrad and Sverdlovsk were renamed, regions that were named after them are still officially called Leningrad and Sverdlovsk oblasts respectively.

A number of public figures and organizations (for example, the political party "PARNAS") have advocated for measures of decommunization^[3] and holding the organizers and enforcers of totalitarian policies accountable. According to public figure Andrey Zubov, decommunization should be carried out by analogy with denazification, with destalinization being a specific element of this process.^[4] The Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, referring to Lenin as "the chief persecutor and tormentor of the 20th century," called for the removal of his body from Red Square and the liberation of settlements from Lenin monuments.^[5] According to polls, there is a general consensus among the Russian people that further or complete decommunization should be carried out only after the Soviet-era generations have died, with actions such as the removal of the Lenin Mausoleum and the burial of Lenin's body.^[6][7][8]

The State Anthem of the Russian Federation, adopted in 2000 (the same year Vladimir Putin began his first term as president of Russia), uses exactly the same music as the State Anthem of the Soviet Union, but with new lyrics written by Sergey Mikhalkov.