I wouldn't believe a word of it without corroboration. I don't have my source handy, but I'm pretty sure that the parts of it that tell about Unca Joe's heroic deeds in the Bolshevik Revolution and the Civil War, as well as the part where Lenin made him his successor, are known to be gross exaggerations or flat-out lies; hardly surprising, considering the source.
Whatever he read, it sure didn't "take"; Stalin elevated Lysenko and exiled and/or executed Vavilov and other normal biologists. The effect this had on Soviet agriculture should provide food for thought to those who would teach ID or creatinism as though they were science.
I wonder how much credit for his character and moral development should be given to the seminary where he claimed to have read Darwin. There is corroboration for the fact he studied for the priesthood.
It'd be consistent with other things I've read about the Soviets. E.g. I once read that there was an "official" Soviet history of World War II, "The History of the Great Fatherland War" or somesuch title, which somehow significantly (shall we say) "overrepresented" the contributions of one Nikita Kruschev.
Cheers!