Excerpt:

Last October, the government endorsed the country's first-ever monument to Ivan the Terrible, with the unveiling in the city of Orel of a statue to the 16th-century czar who expanded Russia but at great human cost. Ivan the Terrible is reputed to have killed one of his sons during a rage.

The official lionization of historical despots feeds into an embrace of anti-democratic values, according to academic Dina Khapaeva, professor of Russian at the Georgia Institute of Technology. She noted in an article for Project Syndicate, a nonprofit that distributes commentary, that Russian officials have even spoken approvingly of Russian serfdom, which "complements the desire for a return to autocracy."

"No wonder, then, that monuments to Stalin, too, are multiplying in Russian cities," she said.

For the full article, visit Voice of America website.