A new public opinion survey carried out by the Information Integrity Program of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by Zink network has found strong sympathies for Jopseph Stalin in the Georgian society, believed to mirror success of the Russian disinformation effort in Georgia.
The survey found that 66 % of Georgians either completely or partially agree that a “patriotic Georgian must be proud that Stalin was Georgian” with 16% being neutral to such statement and 28% strongly or partially disagreeing.
The survey, focused on assessing vulnerabilities of the Georgian society towards disinformation, was fielded by the reputable Caucasus Resource Research Centers (CRRC) and involved 3,024 face-to-face interviews held in November and December of 2021 on the whole territory of Georgia, except the occupied territories.
66% believe that Stalin’s rule had “both positive and negative sides” with only 9% disagreeing to such proposition.
Another 66% believe that “Stalin was a wise leader who brought the USSR to might and prosperity.”
52% however, agree that “Stalin was a tyrant responsible for deaths of millions.”
Over the years, Russian disinformation effort both directly and through its satellites has pursued the objective of integrating Stalin into Georgian nationalism, exploiting his Georgian origins and that he was the most powerful Georgian in history.
Since 2012, 11 new statues of Stalin have been installed across Georgia Akura, Chokhatauri, Zemo Alvani, Lentekhi, Martkopi, Ruispiri, Mukhrani, Zikilia (near Akhaltsikhe) Zestafoni and Okami.
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