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Josef Stalin, 20th century mass murderer and leader of the Soviet Union from the 1920s until his death in 1953. Moscow, November 7 (Interfax) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev dismissed criticism by Joseph Stalin's supporters, who earlier branded as unacceptable his judgments about the years under Stalin's rule in the Soviet Union.

Medvedev said in an interview with Der Spiegel that his recent remarks in a video blog on the occasion of the Day of Commemoration of Victims of Political Repressions drew thousands of comments.

"Some write that at last the head of state said directly what he thinks about the time of repressions and about Stalin. All the necessary judgments were made, and I called what was done a crime. Some write that this is unacceptable, because Stalin brought this country to a very high level of development, that we received a developed industry and a mature social sector, which enabled many people to receive foodstuffs free, that there were virtually no crimes in society, and that the modern Russian leaders have yet to achieve such success," he said.

"The government must be honest, and the government's honesty consists in talking about some historical events that have been thoroughly analyzed in an absolutely clear legal language. In terms of the law, the extermination of a huge number of one's fellow-countrymen for political or for farfetched economic motives is a crime," he said.

"Whatever economic success we might have achieved then and however well the governance mechanism might have worked, the rehabilitation of people responsible for crimes is impossible," Medvedev said.