Warren, thank you very much for welcoming me back on to the board! :)
wetken, your idea regarding the apology is good, but it won't come to pass. First of all, the present Russian government has distanced itself from the Bolshevik government of 1918, even from the Soviet government of 1991; not to mention that Yeltsin did apologize for the crimes of the Soviet government -- by putting the Stone of Memory next to Lubyanka. Each year Russians commemorate the victims of Lenin and Stalin there.
Secondly, the idea of a separate solemn apology for Romanovs' massacre won't probably go very well with Putin -- why should he single out the monarchic victims of Lenin? There is no immediate political gain from that... I know that I'm sounding cynical now, but that's the way it is. Probably I'm wrong and Putin will go all the way, bury Lenin, apologize for Yekaterinburg and other Soviet crimes (there are several of them left that really are a no-no for discussion in Russia...)
A bit of trivia -- Volkogonov wasn't a KGB general, he served in the Army; nevertheless, his books are well worth reading, especially his biographies of Lenin and Stalin, and Volkogonov's portrait of Chernenko in 'The Seven Leaders' is a must-read for everyone who is a Soviet history buff! :)
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