The Moscow Times

On This Day, December 1, 1934: Sergei Kirov was Killed

On Dec. 1, 1934 Sergei Kirov, Party boss of Leningrad, was gunned down as he left his office. In the Soviet Union, this case turned out to be like the Kennedy assassination in the U.S.: a charismatic leader murdered in his prime by a lone assassin, whose death would burnish his memory and go on to spawn countless conspiracy theories.

My contribution to The Moscow Times’ ‘On This Day’ feature, in which I reveal that Kirov’s death sparked more than shock and repression. It unleashed a veritable Soviet Day of the Dead!