Russia marks 65th anniversary of war end

Russia had initially planned to display the posters as part of the 65th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany, but the news prompted a backlash from human rights activists.The posters will now not be placed outdoors as initially planned but will be mounted instead at indoor locations, such as war museums, Moscow deputy mayor Lyudmila Shvetsova told. The posters will be mounted in places where veterans gather most often and most actively. And given the uncertain weather, for most of them it will be more comfortable in enclosed spaces, Shvetsova said. As part of the festivities, Mayor Yury Luzhkov had planned to adorn the city with portraits of wartime Soviet leader Josef Stalin. The move sparked howls of protests, including from Kosorez, who was among a group of nine veterans who penned a letter to Luzhkov's government opposing the posters. Mounting the Stalin posters would have run counter to the goals of Russia's leaders, who have recently taken steps to condemn Stalin-era crimes, a source close to the May 9 organizing committee told. Stalin, who ruled the Soviet Union for nearly three decades until his death in 1953, is a deeply controversial figure whose brutal Gulag prison camps and policies of forced collectivization killed millions of people. But many Russians, including Vladimir Putin, admire Stalin for his role in leading the Soviet Union to victory over Nazi Germany in 1945 as well as turning the country into an industrial powerhouse.