Of all the legends of the Kremlin and the things that went on within its walls there are a number of stories of unusual things going on, but few quite so incredible as actually seeing the ghosts of Vladimir Lennon and Joseph Stalin. But in the long list of people who have passed through the walls of this famous building, a number have appeared years later – long after their deaths. The Kremlin, according to hundreds of witnesses, is most certainly haunted.
It should come as little surprise that the Kremlin would turn out to be haunted. After all, several of the world’s greatest seats of power have turned out to have some connection to the world beyond our own. But just as the legends of the United States appear to be mysterious and full of intrigue. While the ghosts of US presidents have been noted for years after they died, one of the very prominent ghosts seen in the Kremlin started appearing long before its living counterpart actually died. Was this a clandestine intelligence operation by a foreign agency? Or was Lenin’s spirit somehow separated from his body months before the time of his death?
A security guard walking the grounds late one night, as the accounts go, stopped suddenly and looked down the hallway to see Vladimir Lenin walking down toward him. After a few moments the man walked past, saluted, and then disappeared around the corner with his entourage. Other witnesses also described seeing Lenin walking through the building that night. Perhaps even more confusing is the fact that Lenin was seen that night walking without his cane. As Lenin’s health deteriorated he increasingly needed the assistance of others including doctors who provided him with a cane and constant attention. But even as he reached the final few months of his life, Lenin was spotted walking quickly like he was still in his youth in the old seat of the Soviet Union.
The other ghost most commonly spotted of course is Joseph Stalin. Witnesses report that Stalin comes along with a blanket of cold air that chills all witnesses nearby. As they try to determine where the apparition came from they find doors locked and windows barred. The apparition appears to be coming from nowhere at all. But then there is another element to it that is almost as terrifying – the identity of the ghost itself. It’s almost as though he is suggesting by his visit that whatever force compels him to remain on this Earth it is something more powerful than his name – a name that was in his own time feared by millions before his death in 1953.
Guards, workers in the Kremlin, and even politicians have noted the appearance of their lost leader with a chilling tone. When he was alive, he had several painters shot for not portraying him accurately – perhaps why no one has dared take a blurry photograph of him in his apparitional form.
But Russia has more than its share of haunted places. Just like many western places, the Russian areas most associated with the paranormal are often typically historical in nature and have a dark or troubled past – or are themselves wild and unexplored such as the Ural mountain range.
