TOWNS and cities in several former Soviet republics are set to be renamed to mark the 75^th anniversary of the allied victory over fascism in the second world war.

The Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, two regions that split from Ukraine following the fascist-backed Euromaidan coup of 2014 and are still in conflict with Kiev, are temporarily renaming their capital cities after Stalin, the Soviet leader during the war, and Soviet military commander Kliment Voroshilov.

Donetsk is being renamed Stalino, the former name of the city, on Victory Day – May 9, the anniversary of the surrender of nazi Germany to the Soviet Union.

The name “city of Stalino” will be used alongside the name “city of Donetsk” during events related to the war, much as the Russian city of St Petersburg reverts to the name Leningrad on Victory Day and the anniversary of the lifting of the siege of Leningrad.

Donetsk, formerly Yuzovka, was named Stalin in 1924 before being modified to Stalino in 1929. It was renamed Donetsk in 1961 during Nikita Khrushchev’s “de-Stalinisation” process.

The Lugansk People’s Republic is to rename the city of Lugansk Voroshilovograd.

The city has borne Voroshilov’s name twice before.

In the Georgian separatist region of South Ossetia, the capital city Tskhinval is to use its former name of Stalinir for all public events dedicated to Victory Day on May 9 and Great Patriotic War Day on June 22.

In Moscow, a new catherdral to be opened in the Russian capital’s Patriot Park on Victory Day includes a mosaic of the 1945 Victory Parade, including a depiction of Stalin.

Archpriest Leonid Kalinin, chair of the experts’ council for church art, architecture and restoration, told Russian news agency TASS the depiction was about historical accuracy, whatever one’s view on Stalin.