Lockdown dampens Lenin’s birthday celebration

MOSCOW: Russian Communists celebrated 150 years since the birth of Bolshevik leader Lenin on Wednesday with sombre, sparsely attended ceremonies because of the coronavirus pandemic.

In Moscow, several dozen Communists, many wearing face masks, visited the Lenin Mausoleum on Red Square despite a national lockdown. Lenin, whose real name was Vladimir Ulyanov, was born in 1870 in the Volga city of Simbirsk, later renamed Ulyanovsk in his memory by the Soviets. He died in 1924.

His mausoleum has been closed to visitors since March, ostensibly for upkeep but reportedly also because of anti-coronavirus measures. The Russian Communist Party, the largest opposition party in parliament, said supporters observed social distancing and laid flowers in small groups.

Most wore face masks, though party leader Gennady Zyuganov opted not to. Supporters of the more radical anti-Kremlin group Left Front also took part. The group said in a statement that "the current situation in the world, the development of a global crisis accompanied by the coronavirus, makes Lenin’s legacy relevant once more".