MOSCOW (Realist English). Gennady Zyuganov was re-elected chairman of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) on July 5 during the party’s 19th Congress, held in the Moscow region. Delegates approved his candidacy by open vote. Among the new members of the party’s Central Committee is Leonid Zyuganov, the leader’s grandson and a deputy in the Moscow City Duma.
The opening of the congress included a moment of silence in memory of deceased comrades, including those killed in Russia’s ongoing military operation. A message from President Vladimir Putin was read by Sergey Kiriyenko, first deputy chief of the Presidential Administration. In it, Putin praised the CPRF as one of the country’s oldest political forces representing millions of voters and advocating for workers’ rights, industry, and science. He welcomed the party’s commitment to “constructive cooperation” in ensuring national unity.
Zyuganov awarded party cards to new members and honored veteran communists. The congress also featured speeches by ambassadors from China, Vietnam, Cuba, and Laos, as well as key CPRF figures including Pavel Grudinin, Nina Ostanina, Valentin Konovalov, and Anatoly Lokot.
In his closing speech, Zyuganov invoked the party’s long-standing opposition to the Yeltsin administration and called for a renewed national course based on “justice and socialism.” He urged delegates to draw lessons from Soviet modernization and to build a stronger patriotic coalition in the face of external pressures: “Let us leave this congress with a spirit of unity and self-sacrifice.”
