Several dozen members of the Russian Communist Party marched with red flags through Moscow Red Square and laid flowers to mark the 136th birthday anniversary of late Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.

Russian Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov laid a wreath at Lenin's Mausoleum and then proceeded to the grave of Stalin at Kremlin brick wall.

"Today Stalin's experience and courage, his genius and talent should be absorbed by all state officials who wish good, happiness and real sovereignty to Russia," Zyuganov said.

According to Zyuganov, modern Russian politicians could learn from Stalin's experience as well.

"We should acknowledge that without a union of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and highly desirable union with brotherly Ukraine it is hard for us to compete in the modern world. We need a country of at least 200 million people who would wake up every morning, go to work and study. Only then we will be able to compete both with strong and powerful neighbours and the European Union as well as with our so-called American partners whose only dream is to plunder and humiliate Russia." 

Widely reviled as a dictator responsible for millions of deaths, Stalin is held up as a hero by supporters across the former Soviet Union who say the country could not have defeated Nazi Germany or become a superpower without his leadership.