“Only Bible more popular than Lenin’s writings” – Russia’s Communist leader

To communist supporters in modern Russia, Vladimir Lenin was probably the greatest man of all time. Today, the party leader is Gennady Zyuganov, heading what is the second biggest party in Russia's parliament.

As he tells RT, his belief is that the Soviet founder's place in history lies somewhere between Buddha, Jesus and the Prophet Mohammed.

“Lenin is one of the greatest politicians and thinkers of our time,” Zyuganov said. “It is impossible to turn him into a brand, simply because every prominent library in the world has the full collection of his works. The only book that is more popular is the Bible. He is the founder of our Soviet state. There is no other legitimate foundation for today's Russian state. Lenin is studied in all leading universities, and he is still the most read politician in the world. Also all great people have the highest esteem for him. For example, Romain Rolland, the great writer and Nobel Prize winner. Bernard Shaw said: ‘If the future is the future as Lenin foresaw it, then we may all smile and look forward to the future without fear.’”

The leader of communist party also spoke about attempts to make money on the “trade name” of Lenin:

“There are people who try to make money on him as a brand. There are people who try to turn everything into a brand and are ready to sell sacred things. In my opinion, they are not humans. These are selfish people, concerned only about their personal gain. Tomorrow they will devour the whole planet and sell their family members.”

Gennady Zyuganov has also denied brutality on Lenin’s part.

“I will quote you Berdayev, who was not a communist. He’s a well-known philosopher, who belonged to the Constitutional Democratic Party. I quote almost literally what he wrote: ‘In the year 1918, when the country was in danger of complete anarchy and chaos, Lenin appealed to labor and discipline, studying and positive construction.’ And now literally: ‘Lenin stopped the chaotic decay of Russia.’ If the country had disintegrated, there would have been a sea of blood, and you would not be here asking me questions. That’s also Lenin’s achievement.”

“People are not afraid of him,” he emphasized. “But explosions happen every day in our country. This is mostly because Lenin's ideology was destroyed. People were at the heart of his ideology, as well as labor, friendship between different nations, Soviet power. People who organize these explosions are bandits, scum, those who have been poisoned by the anti-Soviet propaganda. I think this is an alarming sign, but we need to give credit to St. Petersburg/Leningrad – they restored the monument, and Lenin continues to look into the future with confidence from the same spot.”

In his interview with RT, Zyuganov also touched upon the problematic issue of Lenin’s’ tomb on Red Square.

“We have many burial sites like that,” he assured. “Go to the Kiev Monastery of the Caves, for example. You can go there and see the remains of our legendary hero Ilya Muromets. Twice a year, the monks change his clothes. You can go to the Pskovo-Pechersky Monastery. I have been there myself. Pushkin's relatives are buried there, as well as Kutuzov's relatives and many others. This is a traditional form of burial that has existed in Russia for a long time. And Lenin's podium is 2 meters lower than the ground level, in accordance with the Orthodox doctrine. So we need to respect the decision made by our fathers and grandfathers.”