Russia to mark WWII Battle of Stalingrad

VOLGOGRAD, Russia -- Josef Stalin and the city of Stalingrad are making a comeback -- if only for a short time.

The city of Volgograd has approved the use of its wartime name at events Saturday commemorating the 70th anniversary of the 200-day Battle of Stalingrad that turned Worls War II's tide.

Admirers also plan, in a move not sanctioned by the city authorities, to display portraits of the late Soviet dictator in minibuses to honor his role in the defeat of Nazi Germany.

The city council's decision is designed to please war veterans but is unlikely to have been taken without the approval of President Vladimir Putin, who is expected to attend the events in the industrial hub of 1 million on the River Volga.

There are plenty of other signs of nostalgia for Stalin and the Soviet era in Volgograd, despite the millions of deaths from collectivization and the murder of political opponents.

"I categorically do not justify Stalin's repressions, but you have to recognize the positive things he did, whether you want to or not," said Gamlet Dallatyan, 92, a veteran of the battle which Russian historians say killed nearly 2 million. "It would be good to go back to the name of Stalingrad, though not so much because of Stalin himself but because that is how the city was known during the war."

In a sign of the fascination Stalin still holds for some, a businessman in Volgograd has opened a Stalin museum.

Many streets still honor Soviet leaders such as Vladimir Lenin or hark back to communist ideology.

On the corner of Worker-Peasant Street and Trade Union Street, the USSR restaurant, next to a McDonald's, welcomes diners with a sign declaring: "Eaters of the world unite."

Named after Stalin in 1925, the city was renamed Volgograd in 1961, during Nikita Khrushchev's "de-Stalinization" campaign.