MOSCOW: Hundreds of relatives of victims of purges launched by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin gathered in Moscow on Wednesday to commemorate their loved ones and demand compensation from Russian authorities.

The mostly elderly relatives laid flowers and lit candles by a stone from the notorious Solovetsky prison camp in northern Russia outside the headquarters of the Soviet-era KGB, now the FSB security service. The event marked the 70th anniversary of the start of the Stalin purges, which began in 1937 with mass show trials against Communist leaders and Red Army generals.

A total of 40 million people are estimated by campaigners to have died during the purges in the vast network of prison camps that was administered by the Soviet secret service. The rally on Wednesday was organised by the Moscow association for the victims of illegal purges, which was set up in 1989 and demands higher pensions and compensation payments for the relatives.—AFP