I find the ambiguous attitude toward Stalin a bit disturbing. His five-year plans destroyed Russia rather than building it. The creation of useless factories is evident today. On the other hand, what used to be Europe's "bread basket" became a starving nation. Then there is the murder of millions – something that cannot be justified – and the destruction of culture (I am thinking of the harrowing fates of people like Mandelstam, Akhmatove, Tsvetayeva, Pasternak, Zoshchenko, and the list goes on and on). No, my friends, he was a monster who has destroyed Russia. And regarding the fight against Hitler – it was the vastness of the Russian countryside, the frigidity of the Russian winter, and the tenacity of the Russian soldier rather than the Georgian who saved the world from Hitler.