Truth laid bare as Russians show they are not so bad after all

‘Alie told often enough becomes the truth.’

Vladimir Lenin stood sentry over the avenue of sponsors’ stalls that leads up to the Luzhniki Stadium and watched on as a chaotic sea of capitalism swilled all the way up to his feet.

The towering bronze statue of the father of communism doesn’t include an inscription of perhaps his most famous quote, but it would have been a fitting Thursday evening tagline as the world snaked by Lenin’s feet on their way to the opening match of Russia’s World Cup.