Russia remembers Lenin on anniversary of birth

April 22, 1997
Web posted at: 2:00 p.m. EST (1800 GMT)

MOSCOW (CNN) -- Thousands of people filed past the embalmed body of Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin on Tuesday, the 127th anniversary of his birth.

Many in the overwhelmingly elderly crowd were die-hard communists, carrying red roses and banners, and were ready to recite old Soviet slogans at the slightest prompting.

"I'm here to honor the birthday of our great leader of the Soviet Communist Party Vladimir Ilich Lenin," said unemployed factory worker Igor Fyodorov.

The people in the crowd were nearly unanimous in their opinion that Lenin's body -- which still receives regular infusions of chemicals to give it a human appearance -- should not be buried.

Lenin, leader of the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, died in 1924.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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