"I came here to honor the memory of Vladimir Lenin — our leader, the founder of the Soviet state," said 47-year-old Yulia, one of many admirers who gathered outside Lenin's mausoleum.

"His ideas lit the way for many revolutionaries, fighters for the bright future of the people, for justice," she told AFP.

Attendees could be seen carrying portraits of the legendary Bolshevik revolutionary and waving flags of the Soviet Union. 

"He played a role not only for Russia, but for the whole world," Nikolai, 73, told AFP.

"After the revolution, the whole world bourgeoisie was afraid that their workers would also rise up and start a revolution," he said.

Despite the persistent efforts by the Russian capitalist establishment to slander socialism-communism and Lenin's legacy, polls show that the majority of the Russian people still have a favorable opinion over the Soviet Union.