A monument to victims of political repression has been defaced with paint in the Siberian city of Taishet.
The incident in the Irkutsk Oblast city was reported on July 5 and apparently happened late the previous day.
The inscription on the monument, which was installed less than a week ago, was made illegible by the vandalism.
During the rule of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin, the infamous gulag camp Taishetlag was located in the region of the city. In addition, many prisoners passed through Taishet on their way to gulag camps farther east.
Critics have charged that President Vladimir Putin has presided over the rehabilitation of Stalin’s reputation.
Monuments to Stalin have appeared in many cities across the country, many of them on the private property of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. On June 24, communists unveiled a statue of Stalin in the Nizhny Novgorod Oblast city of Bor.
Millions of Soviet citizens were direct and indirect victims of political repression during Stalin’s 1924-53 reign.
