Prior to the collapse of the Soviet Union and the archival revelations, Western historians estimated that the numbers killed by Stalin's regime were 20 million or higher. After the Soviet Union dissolved, evidence from the Soviet archives also became available and provided information that led to a significant revision in death toll estimates for the Stalin regime, with estimates in the range from 3 million to 9 million. In post-1991 Russia the KGB archives remained briefly open during 1990's, which helped creation of organisations such as Memorial, which engaged in research of the archives and search of secret mass burial grounds. After Putin came to power however, access to archives was restricted again and research in this area once again became politically incorrect, culminating with forcibly shutting down the organization in 2021.
prior to the collapse of the soviet union and the archival revelations western historians estimated that the numbers killed by stalin's regime were 20 million or higher after the soviet union dissolved evidence from the soviet archives also became available and provided information that led to a significant revision in death toll estimates for the stalin regime with estimates in the range from 3 million to 9 million in post-1991 russia the kgb archives remained briefly open during 1990's which helped creation of organisations such as memorial which engaged in research of the archives and search of secret mass burial grounds after putin came to power however access to archives was restricted again and research in this area once again became politically incorrect culminating with forcibly shutting down the organization in 2021