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The
Stalin Doner shop featured a portrait of the controversial
Communist leader above its front door. Inside, a man dressed in
the Stalin-era security service uniform served customers meat
wraps named after Soviet leaders.
"We fully opened the day before yesterday and served around 200
customers," shop owner Stanislav Voltman said.
"There were no legal reasons (to close the shop)," he added, but
said that police had forced him to remove the Stalin sign and
then "colossal pressure" from local authorities forced him to
shut completely.
The branding was hotly debated on social media with some
commenters condemning it as distasteful.
Stalin's rule was marked by mass repression, labour camps and
famine. Nearly 700,000 people were executed during the Great
Terror of 1936-38, according to conservative official estimates.
However, many in the former Soviet Union still regard him
primarily as the leader who defeated Nazi Germany in the Second
World War, ensuring the country's very existence.
"I had expected some social media hype," Voltman said. "But I
had not expected that all TV stations, all the reporters and
bloggers would flock here and queue up like they do in front of
the Lenin mausoleum."
(Reporting by Dmitriy Turlyun; Writing by Olzhas Auyezov;
Editing by Ros Russell)
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