Putin defends Stalin, says the west is 'demonizing' him.

According to Putin, Stalin was just "a product of his era," and his merits outweigh his faults. "You can try to demonize him however much you like. We try to talk about his merits in achieving victory over fascism." He briefly mentions all the abundant human atrocities, before concluding, "I think the overwhelming majority of citizens of the former Soviet Union admired him." Her made these comments, and others, in a recent TV interview he gave to Oliver Stone, who is a long time fan of his. He went on to say that the "excessive demonization" of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin "is one means of attacking the Soviet Union and Russia."Putin said Russia's critics use Stalin's legacy "to show that today's Russia carries on itself some kind of birthmarks of Stalinism."

The Russian president did not elaborate on what he considered to be "excessive" criticism of Stalin, who ruled the Soviet Union from the mid-1920s until his death in 1953 and who was responsible for the deaths of over 50 million Soviet citizens through executions, labor camps, and starvations. This is not the first time Putin defended or even praised Stalin. In the past he praised him and even compared him to Oliver Cromwell, the English revolutionary, and said there were no real differences between the two. To put things in perspective, imagine what would be the reaction if Angela Merkel defended and praised Hitler, who's death toll was about a third of that of Stalin, and claimed he was being "demonized". Read more on how Joseph Stalin was the greatest mass murderer of all time - http://www.dispropaganda.com/single-post/2016/12/18/Joseph-Stalin-the-greatest-mass-murderer-of-all-time

The Full interview.