This southern Russian city, renowned as the site of the greatest battle of World War II, is now at the centre of another conflict - whether it should revert to its former and much more familiar name: Stalingrad.
More than 2 million people died here between August 1942 and Feb. 2, 1943 in a battle that saw the Nazi war machine begin to fall apart.
Stalingrad remains a source of national pride for Russians, who managed to overcome overwhelming odds and force the German forces laying siege to the city to surrender. It was the first major defeat for Hitler's forces and is considered a turning point in the war that killed 27 million Russians. Many Russians, especially veterans of the battle, consider it a great insult the city no longer bears the name Stalingrad. And as tomorrow's 60th anniversary of the end of the siege nears, they have been fiercely lobbying to have the name restored.
"The name should never have been changed. It is a historic deception," said veteran Fyodor Slipchenko, 78, his chest covered in medals. "Let's say Pearl Harbor - could you call it something else? It would be nothing less than foolishness."
Vladimir Andropov, deputy head of Volgograd's regional assembly, said the city should return to its "fame and glory."
"This is a duty we have to those who perished here and a duty to history."
Volgograd's regional assembly sent a request for the name change to President Vladimir Putin and the country's lower house of parliament last year.
But Putin opposes restoring the name, saying "it would lead to suspicions that Russia is going back to Stalinism."
Many of those who suffered under Stalin's regime agree.
"Changing the name would be a glorification of Stalin," said Alyona Zaks, 66, 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."
But Putin has also said the final decision on restoring the name rests with local officials and the country's lower house of parliament.
Volgograd, a city of about 1 million located 900 kilometres south of Moscow, has already seen its name changed twice since the Bolshevik Revolution.
Before 1925, the city was called Tsaritsyn. Some say the name was derived from the Tatar name for a nearby stream, others that is was named after Tsarina Catherine the Great. Not surprisingly then, the Bolsheviks renamed the city after Stalin, who had helped secure victory here in a key battle during the post-revolution civil war.
By 1942, Stalingrad housed a massive tractor factory and key parts of Russia's industrial complex. Hitler decided capturing it was vital to destroying Soviet military capabilities. His forces laid siege in late August, 1942, expecting a quick victory.
Instead, soldiers on both sides faced unimaginable horrors. They fought hand to hand in collapsing buildings and on streets, scavenged for stray animals and raw grain to eat and suffered temperatures reaching minus 30C with no heat or electricity.
The few buildings that managed to survive the siege are scored with bullet holes. The names of the Soviet 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 impossible to dig here without finding human bones, weapons or mangled metal shell casings.
"People today cannot imagine what it was like," said Anatoly Kosler, 80, retired colonel who commanded an infantry platoon during the battle. "It was a very cruel battle and a difficult time. ... But Stalingrad set an example for all the people of the world. It was here that Hitler's spine was crushed."
After Stalin's death in 1953, as details of his notorious purges were allowed to surface, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev renamed the city in 1961 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 in 1991, many residents here began to push for the name to be restored. Thousands of veterans signed petitions endorsing the plan and cities and towns from across Russia sent letters of support. Supporters insist that restoring the name is not about venerating Stalin.
Michael Mainville is a Canadian journalist based in Russia