Russian communists call for investigation into West's possible role in Stalin's death

The Communists of Russia party has urged the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) and top prosecutors to investigate potential Western intelligence involvement in the 1953 death of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, the Russian state-controlled news agency RIA Novosti reported.

"The party has formally petitioned the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation and the FSB to examine the potential role of Western intelligence services in the passing of Joseph Stalin," Chairman of the party, Sergei Malinkovich, was quoted as saying.

"Numerous testimonies from Stalin's contemporaries suggest the potential poisoning of the Soviet leader by agents of Western influence," Malinkovich reportedly said.

It remains unclear whether the FSB or the Prosecutor General's Office has responded to the party's request.

March 5 commemorates the 71st anniversary of Stalin's death. He served as the leader of the Soviet Union from 1924 until his passing. The government attributed his death to a hemorrhagic stroke.

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The Kyiv IndependentAbbey Fenbert