Stalin buses to be launched in 40 former Soviet cities

Buses decorated with the portraits of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin will appear on the streets of 40 cities in the former Soviet republics during V-E Day celebrations on May 9, a campaign organizer said on Thursday. The leader of the "Bus of Victory" campaign, Viktor Loginov, wrote in his blog that the buses will appear on May 6 in Kiev, Minsk, Tallinn and Riga, as well as in many Russian cities, including Moscow, St. Petersburg and Volgograd (formerly Stalingrad). “Some 40 cities have joined the campaign so far and it has already broken previous records,” he said. He added that the organizers still have to collect some 150,000 rubles (about $5,000) for the successful launch of the campaign. The “Bus of Victory” campaign was first held in St. Petersburg in May 2010 and is aimed at “counteracting falsifications of our Fatherland’s history.” Members of its organizing committee say they do not belong to any political or public organization.