“Half a century of lies have been poured over Stalin’s reputation and he cannot defend himself from the grave, so this case is essential to put the record straight,” Mr Dzhugashvili’s lawyer, Leonid Zhura, said…

Liberal critics say that the drive to rehabilitate Stalin has official backing, with the Kremlin keen to glorify Russia’s Soviet past and make Russians proud of their history, while glossing over Stalin’s crimes The Novaya Gazeta story referred to declassified secret documents ordering the execution of Soviet citizens and which were said to bear Stalin’s personal signature.