The museum had preserved the history of brutality inflicted by the Soviet Union on its people. It will now focus on Nazi war crimes.

The institution was one of the nation's last dedicated to documenting Soviet-era political repression and contained thousands of artifacts from victims, among them letters and personal belongings.

A recent investigation by RFE/RL's Schemes unit revealed that a senior Russian commander shared a meme among fellow officers that read, 'It's not a war crime if it was fun.' The sentiment is ...