MOSCOW, Aug 28: Galina Dzhugashvili, the granddaughter of Soviet ruler Josef Stalin, died in a Moscow military hospital on Monday aged 69 after a long battle with cancer, a hospital spokesman said.

She was the last prominent, direct descendant of the infamous ruler.

Yakov Dzhugashvili, Stalin’s son from a first marriage, was taken prisoner in 1941 by Nazi forces and, according to official accounts, died in captivity after the Soviet leader refused to exchange him for a senior German officer.

That version of the fate of Stalin’s eldest son however has been contested by some Russian historians — and by Galina herself — who say that it was concocted by the Nazis to portray Stalin as a warmonger.—AFP