Russian President Vladimir Putin has dashed the hopes of a determined group of campaigners fighting to restore the name Stalingrad to this city in honour of the greatest battle of World War II.
Speaking during a live television broadcast Dec. 19, Putin said he would not support the move, despite his respect for veterans of the battle.
"The Battle of Stalingrad entered Russian and world history as the brightest moment of World War II," he said. "But bringing back the name Stalingrad now would lead to suspicions that Russia is going back to Stalinism. I don't think that would benefit us." Backed by thousands of veterans, Volgograd's regional assembly sent an official request to Putin earlier this year asking that the name Stalingrad be restored in time for the 60th anniversary of the end of the battle on Feb. 3.
Given some of the president's recent moves - such as the reinstatement of the Soviet national anthem and his resurrection of the five-point red star on the flags of the Russian military - campaigners were optimistic.
But by coming out against the idea, Putin has all but defeated the campaign.
More than 2 million people died in this southern Russian city between October 1942 and February 1943 during what some consider the greatest battle in history.
The survivors of Stalingrad lived through unimaginable horrors. They fought hand-to-hand in collapsing buildings and on city streets, scavenged for stray animals and raw grain to eat and suffered temperatures reaching -30C with no heat or electricity.
Volgograd, and the people who live here, still bear the scars of the epic battle. The few buildings that managed to survive the siege are scored with bullet holes. The names of the dead are scattered across the city - on small plaques on the sides of buildings, on columns in public parks and in a vast memorial complex just outside the city centre. It's still impossible to dig here without finding human bones, weapons or mangled metal shell casings.
"People today cannot imagine what it was like," said 80-year-old Anatoly Kosler, a retired colonel who commanded an infantry platoon during the battle.
"It was a very cruel battle and a difficult time. We all knew that we were doomed to death. We believed there were three options for us: either you were killed, captured or went mad."
But for those who survived, Stalingrad became a source of pride. Despite overwhelming odds, the Red Army managed to defeat the Germans and the battle is considered a turning point in The Great Patriotic War, as Russians still call World War II. It has been commemorated in books, films and a square in central Paris.
Which is why many in Volgograd consider it a great indignity that the city no longer bears the name Stalingrad.
"The city should be what it used to be. It was famous as Stalingrad. We should return its fame and its glory. This is a duty we have to those who perished here and a duty to history," said Vladimir Andropov, the deputy head of Volgograd's regional assembly.
Volgograd, a city of about one million located 900 kilometers southwest of Moscow, was first called Tsaritsyn. Some say the name had its origins in the Tatar language, others that it was named after the Tsarina, Catherine the Great. Not surprisingly then, in 1925 the Bolsheviks renamed the city after Stalin, who had helped secure victory here in a key battle during the post-revolution civil war.
After Stalin's death, as details of his notorious purges were allowed to surface, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev renamed the city after its position on the Volga River.
Veterans say the city's residents opposed the move at the time, but could do little about it.
But after the fall of the Soviet Union - bucking a trend that saw Leningrad (St. Petersburg) and many Russian cities revert to their pre-Soviet names - many residents here began to push for the city to again be named after Josef Stalin. Thousands of veterans signed petitions endorsing the plan and cities and towns from across Russia sent letters of support.
But the move also faced significant opposition, especially from those who suffered under Stalin's regime.
"Changing the name would be a glorification of Stalin," said 66-year-old Alyona Zaks, a member of Memorial, a Russian human-rights group devoted to uncovering Stalin-era crimes. "My father died in Stalin's concentration camp and it would be an insult to him, and to all the others who suffered under Stalin."
Zaks said that as someone who lived through World War II, she understands the desire to honour the memories of those who died at Stalingrad.
But, she said, "the battle will always be remembered. Bringing back the old name is not necessary for that."
Supporters of the plan, however, have insisted that restoring the name is not about venerating Stalin.
"This has nothing to do with Stalin. Heads of state come and go and are liked or not liked. But there are historical events that cannot be diminished," said Fedor Slipchenko, a Stalingrad veteran.