A dismembered statue of Russian dictator Josef Stalin has been found at the bottom of a lake in the Ural Mountains more than six decades after it was thrown in.
The effigy was broken up and sunk into the murky water 62 years ago amid a purge of Stalinist icons by his Kremlin successor, Nikita Khrushchev.
It remained hidden at the bottom of the lake until recently, when the water was drained so that the dam could be repaired.
A statue of Communist dictator Josef Stalin has been uncovered at the bottom of a lake in the Ural Mountains, 62 years after it was sunk into the water amid a purge by his successor

The effigy used to take pride of place in a park in the town of Kusa but disappeared in 1956 following a speech denouncing Stalin by Nikita Khrushchev

Urban legend held that the statue had been sunk into a lake behind a dam, and the rumour was confirmed recently when the water was drained so the dam could be repaired

The statue of Stalin pictured in the park in Kusa shortly before it vanished
Locals at first thought the silt-covered sculpture might have been a discarded memorial to an unknown soldier.
But a museum in Chelyabinsk region confirmed it was a statue of the dictator which once in pride of place in a local park.
Curators had been aware of an urban legend which said the statue was carved up and dumped into the lake after Khrushchev’s secret speech denouncing Stalin and his personality cult.
Viktoria Raspopova, curator of Kusinsky Museum, said: ‘Now the legend is seen to be true.


Many monuments to Stalin vanished following a speech by Khrushchev (right) in 1956 in which he denounced the dictator and his cult of personality

Workers initially thought the statue was a monument to an unknown soldier, but curators from a nearby museum later confirmed the sculpture to be of Stalin


The statue was cut up before being dumped at various different points in the lake
‘It is interesting that parts of the statue were found in different places, far from the shore where he stood,’ she said.
‘Perhaps it was taken out in winter and dropped into ice holes – in those years the frosts were very strong.’
Local photographer Andrey Parfenov said: ‘Part of the monument was discovered by my daughter Polina.
‘At first I thought it was a statue of an unknown soldier.
‘We called the museum, and they then said it must be Stalin.’
The moustachioed monster is now in the possession of a group called The Essence of Time which preserves Russian relics.
‘The monument was broken and dismembered,’ said activist Stanislav Stafeev.
‘Now we are looking for the missing fragments – the right arm and a fragment of his hip. The feet are missing too – most likely, they left with the pedestal.’
They are hoping a lack of rain will dry the pond more quickly and Stalin’s missing parts will soon emerge.
Stafeev wants a local vote on whether Stalin should rise again and be placed next to a forlorn-looking statue of Lenin which still stands in Kusa’s main square.
‘We will demand a referendum,’ he said.
‘Lenin is in a deplorable state. If we restore both Stalin and Lenin, why not to show them off in the square together?’
Local officials say a more appropriate place for the effigy is in the local museum.
The park where Stalin once stood is now neglected.

Workers have been able to retrieve several different parts of the statue, but Stalin’s feet and part of one arm are still missing

The statue’s legs are loaded into the back of a truck after being pulled from the dry lake bed

Locals are now suggesting that the statue be reassembled and placed back in its original park