Over half of Russians believe Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev was the best head of state in the past century, a poll by Levada Center has revealed.

      Sociologists asked Russians about their attitude towards 20th-century leaders. Some 56 percent of respondents have positive feelings about Brezhnev, who led the USSR from 1964 till 1982.

      The first ruler of the Soviet Union and Bolshevik Revolution mastermind, Vladimir Lenin, is on the second place with 55 percent of Russians expressing their positive attitude towards him, while exactly one-half of Russians favor Joseph Stalin. However, over one-third of respondents do not approve of the leader, who is often described as “bloody tyrant.” 

      Nikita Khruschev – who was Soviet premier during the Cuban missile crisis – is liked by 45 percent of Russians. That figure is slightly less than modern-day supporters of Tsar Nicholas II, who was overthrown in 1917; he got kind reviews from 48 percent of respondents.

      The most unpopular Russian rulers are the first and only Soviet President, Mikhail Gorbachev, (21% likes, 66% dislikes) and the first Russian President, Boris Yeltsin (22% likes, 64% dislikes).