Also at the party congress, a resolution was adopted calling on Russian President Vladimir Putin to return the historical name to the city of Volgograd and rename it back to Stalingrad. According to the communists, this would mean "restoring historical justice."
The Kremlin's reaction to the appeal is still unknown, but social media users reminded the communists that the decision to rename the city is made by local residents in a referendum, and not by the President of the Russian Federation.
In addition, the chairman of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin reacted extremely sharply to the resolution of the Communist Party. The speaker of the lower house of parliament recalled that it was the communists who at one time debunked the personality cult of Joseph Stalin. And now suddenly they wanted to replay the story? According to Vyacheslav Volodin, the communists must first repent, and then have the courage to ask for something.
This is not the first attempt to return the name of Stalin to the city: disputes about renaming Volgograd have been going on in political circles for years. Each time they are accompanied by loud and contradictory statements by officials, regional leaders, and deputies. Then the question blurs. He does not reach a people's referendum anyway. And today, judging by the reaction of Vyacheslav Volodin, the activity of the communists will be disposed of according to the old scenario.
A noticeable breakthrough, however, happened in the spring of 2025 on the eve of the celebration of the 80th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War. Then the leader of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Gennady Zyuganov once again called for the return of the city to its former name, and activists wrote an appeal to Vladimir Putin with a similar request.
Former Russian Prime Minister Sergei Stepashin also proposed changing the name of Volgograd to Stalingrad. "The figure of Joseph Stalin in history is ambiguous, but the Battle of Stalingrad was, is and will be," Sergei Stepashin noted then. According to the ex-prime minister, the victory at Stalingrad was of particular importance for the future of the country.
Closer to Victory Day, a certain consensus was found: the governor of the Volgograd region, Andrei Bocharov, submitted a proposal on behalf of local veterans of the Great Patriotic War to rename the Gumrak airport to Stalingrad.
This option was probably satisfied at that time by all interested parties, so President Vladimir Putin signed a corresponding decree. The document said that the decision to assign the name "Stalingrad" to the Volgograd airport was made in order to perpetuate the victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.
According to the presidential decree, the historical name "Stalingrad," assigned to the airport in Volgograd, "is not an integral part of the established name of this geographical object." Assigning the airport a "historical name" will not entail "a change in the established name of this geographical object."
However, the return of the name Stalingrad to the city itself was also not fundamentally ruled out. As President Vladimir Putin said then, there is logic in renaming Volgograd to Stalingrad. However, the final decision must be made by the residents of the city. 'It's up to residents to decide. Let's think about it. We need to ask the residents, "the President said.
It is precisely on the opinion of the residents of Volgograd that all opponents of the return of the name of Stalin to the geographical map rely. In 2023, the VTsIOM analytical center conducted a survey among local respondents and found out that 67 percent of the surveyed Volgograd residents are against renaming Volgograd to Stalingrad.
Only 26 percent of residents supported the idea, it follows from the results of the survey. The reasons for the negative attitude towards renaming were called such: fears of large financial costs from the budget of the city and the region, lack of meaning, unwillingness to "live in the past" and uneven perception of Stalin's figure.
It is difficult to say how complete and unbiased the VTsIOM poll was. And the time is now fast: what seemed "meaningless" two years ago may now seem very appropriate and patriotic. By the way, at present, by decree of the City Duma, Volgograd changes its name to Stalingrad nine times a year - on significant dates associated with the Great Patriotic War.
Recall that since its foundation in 1589, the city was called Tsaritsyn, after the name of the Tsaritsa river flowing in that area. It became Stalingrad in 1925, and was renamed Volgograd in 1961. It is noticeable that the USSR authorities deliberately chose the most faceless and "associative" name for the city, like Don-on-Don. However, the awkward moments for Khrushchev and his associates associated with the name of Stalin could not be completely retouched.
It is not easy to draw historical parallels in this case, but imagine that after a while the Athenian authorities decided to rename the site of the Marathon Battle into the Middle Greek hilly plain. Let's say the commander Miltiad did not please them with something, or they became friends with the Persians, and did not want to injure their dear partners with reminders of recent military shame. With all due respect, allowing the name "Middle Greek Hilly Plain" in official documents, the Greeks would still call the battle site Marathon. So with Volgograd it turns out just as awkward, with the usual look.
By the way, in May 2025, they decided to entrust AI to the controversial topic of returning Volgograd to Stalingrad so that artificial intelligence would impartially assess the likelihood of renaming the city in the future until 2030.
The neural network, as it turned out, estimates the chances of an early renaming of Volgograd rather pessimistic: 10-15 percent. The neural network supports its conclusion with the following arguments: high associated costs, resistance of some politicized citizens, the authorities' unwillingness to lose political points on the complete rehabilitation of Stalin. Finally, there is already a compromise model - renaming the city into memorable dates and the Stalingrad airport.
However, there are factors that can dramatically increase the likelihood of renaming, immediately up to 30-35 percent. This is an increase in the conservative-patriotic agenda and authoritative lobbying of the idea in political circles (if there is such an enthusiast). In the case of ideological mobilization of citizens in Russia, for example, against the backdrop of a conflict with Ukraine. The name Stalingrad may also appear on the map due to "unforeseen events," to which the neural network ranks the political crisis.
Overall, the risks and costs outweigh the potential benefits, so the base case: keeping the official "Volgograd" with an emphasis on the symbolic use of the name "Stalingrad" in a patriotic context.
As you can see, artificial intelligence very competently "put on the shelves" the existing state of affairs. The memory of the Battle of Stalingrad is preserved in museums, memorials and commemorative inscriptions. Political power in the Russian Federation, not inclined to sharp steps, such an alignment seems optimal.