Say he played a positive role isn't the same as approving each and every one of his policies, but anyway...
Mar 5 2004 7:57PM Some 45% of Russians approve of Stalin's policy - poll MOSCOW. March 5 (Interfax) - Forty-five percent of Russians said that Josef Stalin played a positive role in the country's history, 42% expressed the opposite opinion and 13% were undecided, according to a poll.
A public opinion survey conducted by the ROMIR Monitoring company before March 5, the anniversary of Stalin's death, shows that 26% of respondents described him as a 'bloody dictator' responsible for the deaths of millions of people.
Nineteen percent said that Stalin was the leader who made Russia a great power, and 17% described him as an outstanding military commander who made a considerable contribution to the victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.
Another 14% associate Stalin with the collectivization campaign, when property was confiscated from peasants and handed over to collective farms; 7% said that Stalin built socialism in the country, and 4% described him as a treacherous politician who ruined Vladimir Lenin's legacy.
Sociologists have indicated that younger respondents are more likely to describe Stalin as a dictator and the architect of the collectivization campaign. [RU EUROPE EEU EMRG POL] tm tl