Russians mark anniversary of Vladimir Lenin’s death

Hundreds of Russian Communist Party supporters on Tuesday marched to Vladimir Lenin's mausoleum to mark the 96th anniversary of his death. Party supporters gathered at Moscow's Red Square to lay flowers outside the tomb where the embalmed body of Lenin - the Soviet Union's first leader - remains on view.

Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov gave a speech, describing Lenin as a revolutionary, saying he hoped Russian President Vladimir Putin would study Lenin's legacy. Some Moscow residents said they would like to return to the certainties of Communism and consider Lenin a symbol of a just society. Community Party supporter Anatoly Yakobson said Lenin was a "sacred figure."

Ruslan Kuchkov, another resident, said, "What Lenin and the Bolshevik Party did by creating the world's first socialist government is still in the hearts of millions, maybe even billions of citizens of the world." After the fall of Communism and the dissolution of the Soviet Union, there was talk of moving Lenin's remains from the Red Square, however, it did not happen and remains a controversial topic in Russia.