slothis · English

Red Square in Moscow: Witnessing a Communist Rally

2016-06-17 · Updated: 2026-08-11 · Original (Korean)

This article was translated from the original Korean post with AI assistance. Read the original Korean post →
A view of the square with the colorful onion domes of St. Basil's Cathedral, the red Kremlin walls, and a clock tower under a blue sky.
St. Basil's Cathedral and the watchtower of the Kremlin. This is the heart of Moscow: the Kremlin and Red Square.

Red Square. The name originally meant "beautiful," but after passing through the communist era, it has become a square associated with the red color of the Communist Party.

When I arrived in the morning, Red Square was completely cordoned off. Even from a distance, I could see Communist Party members holding a rally or festival-like gathering, and their presence was overwhelming. I later heard from a Russian friend that the communists who praise dictatorship as we imagine it—especially those calling for the resurrection of the Soviet Union—don't gather at all; they are actually wanted fugitives who get arrested on sight. As someone born and raised in a capitalist society, I don't really know the difference between a communist and someone dreaming of a Soviet revival, but Red Square with its fluttering red flags and the shoppers lining up at GUM (a famous department store) represent the present reality of this country.

Buildings with round domes, a tiered red stone structure, and red brick buildings line the red Kremlin walls.
People holding red flags gathered in a square in front of a massive, ornately decorated stone building.

By the time I finished touring inside the Kremlin and returned to Red Square, all the rallies had ended and access was permitted again. There were still many people lingering in front of the statue of Marshal Zhukov on the way, perhaps riding the afterglow of the earlier rally. I don't know if it's fortunate or unfortunate for this country, but people holding Soviet flags and wanting to reclaim the spirit of the Soviet Union were passionately giving speeches and waving their flags.


A bronze equestrian statue of a man wearing a military uniform and hat riding a horse, with a red brick building in the background.
Marshal Zhukov. He is a national war hero of Russia. Of course, I didn't know this before I went; my Russian friends explained it to me later. You can think of him as being on the level of Yi Sun-sin (a legendary Korean admiral). The differences are that Zhukov started as a private and rose to the rank of Marshal, and rather than being killed in action, he was ousted by Stalin.
An equestrian statue of a soldier set on a high pedestal in front of a red brick building.
A side view of an equestrian statue of a soldier standing tall against a blue sky.
A back view of an equestrian statue standing against a blue sky, with a bird flying next to it.
People passing by the equestrian statue in front of a red brick building, with one person holding a large red flag depicting a hammer and sickle.
An equestrian statue in front of a red brick building and a red flag crossing in front of it.
I am looking at a scene I absolutely would not have been able to see with my own two eyes 30 years ago. There are sights everywhere that would make the people shouting "Eradicate the commies~ Believe in Jesus~" in Jongno (a central district in Seoul) foam at the mouth.

After entering the square, I tried to visit Lenin's Mausoleum, where Lenin's actual embalmed body is kept—the thing I wanted to see most in Red Square—but the doors were blocked off today, so I couldn't see it. Contrary to his own wishes, he wasn't buried in his hometown; instead, under Stalin's orders, he was preserved and remains asleep in his original state to this day. I wanted to see the actual face of the man who coined the term 'Leninist,' but unfortunately, I couldn't. I wanted to at least say "Hello there~" to him, so it's a shame.

Wreaths placed in front of the entrance to a red marble building with the word Lenin written on it.
The firmly closed Lenin's Mausoleum

To go on a brief, useless tangent: for people like me who were taught from a young age that the Communist Party is bad and democracy is the best, all of these sights feel awkward and fascinating. Of course, I now understand that the opposite of democracy isn't communism, and I know that capitalism also has many problems, so it's not a situation where anyone can point fingers. Still, the remnants of communism scattered throughout Moscow just feel awkward to me. I think that's why I was so curious about Lenin—I wanted to understand this country better. Even if it was just his corpse.

One of the incorrect things we learned in elementary school is the idea that 'the Communist Party is bad and democracy is the best,' but every country claims to be a democracy. Even North Korea. The exact opposite concept of the communism mentioned in the famous Korean anti-communist slogan 'I hate the Commies' is capitalism. The opposite of democracy is dictatorship. The problem with the Soviet Union was the mindset that dictatorship is acceptable for the sake of communism (Belinsky). Then again, Bakunin's idea of smashing everything because communism would just become a dictatorship anyway is also a problem...

Lenin, who tried to lay the groundwork for socialism without properly following Marxism, and the European countries excluding Northern Europe that didn't transition from capitalism to socialism. (Though they probably never even considered transitioning.) In the end, the inherent problems both sides carried grew larger; one side was concluded to be a failure, and seeing the other side currently suffering from serious issues makes me wonder if there was really a need to wage such an exhausting ideological war back in the day. Especially as someone living in a country that was torn in half under the guise of ideology, I really think people in the past lived in such a draining way. Well, in the end, it was all done on purpose just so someone could grab a seat of power, so I guess it's hard to say it was purely a waste.

A grand red brick building standing behind a square with fluttering red flags, where many people are gathered.

Coming to Red Square and seeing actual red factions makes it feel like I've traveled to the Moscow of the past. It wasn't an intimidating sight; it looked more like a kind of performance.

Expenses per 1 person / Might be for 2 people

Total Expenses 2,521RUB

Total Trip Expenses 525,936 KRW + 21,012 RUB + $53.16