Kremlin says USSR "integral part" of Russian history
Russia’s Presidential Spokesman Dmitriy Peskov has said that the USSR is an "integral part" of Russian history.
He made the remarks responding to a question about a possible celebration of the centenary of the USSR’s formation, Gazeta.Ru reports.
The Kremlin spokesman recalled Russian President Vladimir Putin's words saying that "a person who has no heart may not regret the collapse of the [Soviet] Union, and only a brainless person may wish for its restoration”.
Earlier, Russia’s Communist Party leader Gennadiy Zyuganov called the formation of the Soviet Union the main achievement that the country should be proud of.
Zyuganov said that the USSR saved Russian statehood after "the talentless Tsarist government of Nicholas II [the last Emperor of Russia] dragged us into World War I on the money of London, Paris and New York and burned down the Russian Empire". The politician also believes that the USSR could have continued to exist, as the example of China demonstrates.
President Putin had previously said that Russia would not abandon the historical legacy of the USSR and the tsarist empire. He noted that both periods had their difficulties, were overcome in different ways and had different consequences.