Plaque honoring Soviet leader Brezhnev restored in Moscow - Dec 19, 2013 - A plaque commemorating late Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev was restored to the facade of his former apartment building on Thursday, a sign of nostalgia in line with President Vladimir Putin's calls to respect all aspects of Russian history.Critics say Brezhnev presided over a period of political repression and economic stagnation and have likened Putin's nearly 14 years in power to his 1964-82 rule - longer than any Soviet leader but dictator Josef Stalin.
But many Russians see the Brezhnev era as a time of stability for the superpower, which broke up in 1991.
The plaque was removed that year, but a survey last April by independent pollster Levada found Brezhnev evokes positive emotions in more than half of Russians - more than any other Soviet-era leader or the last tsar, Nicholas II.
Moscow authorities restored the plaque, on a stately Stalin-era building that Putin sometimes passes on his way to the Kremlin, following a proposal whose backers included a lawmaker from the ruling United Russia party.
Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov has called the Brezhnev era a "huge plus" for the country.
Putin is trying to deny the horrors of history it seems