Putin denounces Soviet founder Lenin

slid2Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses a regional meeting of pro-Kremlin United Peoples’ Front in Stavropol, on Monday, Jan. 25, 2016. Putin has said that the Russian air campaign in Syria will last for as long as it’s necessary to support the Syrian army’s offensive. During a meeting with students on a visit to Stavropol in southern Russia, he said Moscow’s goal is to help Damascus defeat “terrorists.” (Alexei Druzhinin/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has criticized Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin for placing a “time bomb” under the state, and denounced brutal repressions by the Bolshevik government.

The harsh criticism of Lenin, who is still revered by communists and many others in Russia, is unusual for Putin, who in the past carefully weighed his comments about the nation’s history to avoid alienating some voters.

Putin’s assessment of Lenin’s role in Russian history during Monday’s meeting with pro-Kremlin activists in the southern city of Stavropol was markedly more negative than in the past.

He denounced Lenin and his government for brutally executing Russia’s last czar along with all his family and servants, killing thousands of priests and placing a “time bomb” under the Russian state by drawing administrative borders along ethnic lines.

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