" 3. This story is well known in Russia, where respect for, even admiration of, Stalin is common. Yuri Zhukov, the main Russian historian who sets forth the paradigm of "Stalin as Democrat" and whose works are the most important single source, though far from the only one, for this article, is a mainstream figure associated with the Academy of Sciences. His works are widely read."
I have never heard of Zhukov (which doesn't mean much, because I don't follow this stuff). But although I have met many people in Russia who appraise Stalin positively (usually with reservations), I have never heard anyone describe him as a democrat. Usually what they say is "he was a tyrant who did terrible things, but they needed to be done and what he accomplished was worth it in spite of them," or "he was a tyrant who did terrible things, but any leader would have done something like that in his position." If you were to call him a democrat people would look at you with slack-jawed amazement.
Nu, zayats, pogodi!
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