Vandals spray paint the word ‘executioner’ beside Crimea's new Stalin plaque

Unknown persons in Crimea have vandalized a memorial plaque dedicated to Joseph Stalin, spray painting over his face and writing the words “executioner” beside the sign. The local branch of Russia's Communist Party, which had the plaque installed on May 8, 2015, is furious. A communist member of Simferopol's city council has appeal to federal police and Crimea's attorney general, demanding that the vandals be hunted down and punished.

March 5, 2016, marked the 63rd anniversary of Stalin's death. In Moscow, artists replaced an advertisement at bus stop with a poster showing a deceased Stalin and the caption, “This one died, and so will the current one,” in a none-too-subtle jab at Vladimir Putin, who's led Russia's federal government for the better part of the past two decades.