On Thursday, members of the Communist Party of Russia unveiled a bust of Soviet leader Josef Stalin in the Ukrainian city of Melitopol, which is under Moscow’s control. This marks the first monument to Stalin in territories occupied by Russia in Ukraine, as reported by the party’s affiliate in the Zaporizhzhia region.

Images and footage released by one of the party’s officials depicted a gathering of adults with Soviet flags and children adorned in socialist scarves and hats during the unveiling ceremony.

“In the name of our homeland, for Stalin—hooray!” exclaimed Taras Genov, the head of the Russian Communist Party’s branch in Zaporizhzhia, as shown in one of the recordings.

Genov mentioned that contributions from Melitopol residents financed the construction and installation of the monument, located in the city’s Alley of Heroes.

Melitopol, which had a population of roughly 150,000 before the war, was seized shortly after Russia commenced its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. It now stands as the largest city in the Zaporizhzhia region under Russian authority. This region is one of four areas in Ukraine that Russia claimed to annex in the fall of 2022, despite not exerting full control over them.

In recent years, Stalin’s image has experienced a revival in Russia, in spite of the significant atrocities associated with his leadership. According to estimates from the exiled news organization Mozhem Obyasnit, there are 120 Stalin monuments in Russian cities, with 105 of them erected during Vladimir Putin’s presidency over the past 25 years.