Russia’s occupation administrations in the cities of Luhansk and Donetsk in the east of Ukraine ordered to use and promote the Stalin-era names of the cities – Voroshilovgrad and Stalino – at the WWII-related events. What may seem a ridiculous decision at first glance, is a part of the full-on propaganda campaign that continues since 2014 in order to mentally separate the residents of the region from the rest of Ukraine and keep them loyal to Russia.
Russia's War Against Ukraine
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Yuri Zoria: Stalin-era city names to be used in occupied Donetsk, Luhansk
A picture taken in Donetsk on Oct. 17, 2015, shows people walking past a portrait of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin on an advertising board. Three Stalin portraits hang in the centre of Donetsk, the main city held by Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine, where a mood of nostalgia for the Soviet era is all-pervasive.
