The American Spectator

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Special Report

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The Kremlin's image is in need of a major makeover. Allegations of state-complicity in the assassinations of Alexander Litvinenko in Great Britain and investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya in Moscow have done little to enhance Russia's international image as a democratic, peace-loving nation. More recently, the Kremlin has failed to crack down on home-grown racist youth gangs, responsible for a series of cross-border attacks on Jews and visible minorities in Russia and Ukraine.

Last week, Russian politician Grigory Yavlinsky called on the Russian government to undertake "a de-Stalinization program" to remember the millions of victims of Soviet repression. Russia's Memorial Human Rights Society issued a statement asking the Russian government "to acknowledge past crimes and offer apologies to the victims," including the former Soviet Union's repressed ethnic groups.

It's time for Russia to make peace with its past, by showing a willingness to make peace with its neighbors. Acknowledging Stalin's genocidal complicity in the 1932-33 state-sponsored Famine in Ukraine would be an important first step.

topics:
Vladimir Putin, Military, Iran, Russia, Israel