Vladimir Putin stirs memories of Joseph Stalin as he urges 'leap forward' [View all]
Source: Reuters
Russia needs a "leap forward" to rejuvenate its sprawling defence industry, Vladimir Putin said on Friday, harkening back to the ambitious industrialisation carried out by Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin in the runup to the second world war.
"We should carry out the same powerful, all-embracing leap forward in modernisation of the defence industry as the one carried out in the 1930s," Putin told his security council, without mentioning Stalin by name.
Stalin, who ruled the Soviet empire for 25 years, is blamed for the death of about six million people but also is praised by many Russians for winning the second world war and industrialising the country.
Putin has made renewed industrialisation a priority during his third term in the Kremlin.
Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/aug/31/vladimir-putin-russia-needs-leap-forward
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