Public transport in Astrakhan, a city in southern Russia, has been playing Waltz No. 2 and Festive Overture, two compositions by the renowned composer Dmitri Shostakovich, according to the local media outlet A24. This autumn, several cities across Russia, including Omsk, Samara, and Perm, are hosting concerts, exhibitions, and film screenings to celebrate the 120th anniversary of Shostakovich’s birth. Born in 1906 in what was then Saint Petersburg, the capital of the Russian Empire, Shostakovich became one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. In Guelendjik, a coastal city on the Black Sea, a fictional film about Shostakovich will open the Mayak film festival on Saturday, October 3, as reported by the newspaper Kommersant. Russian media outlets have been highlighting his legacy, with Argumenty i Fakty, a popular tabloid, calling him "one of the greatest composers of the 20th century." Similarly, Moskovski Komsomolets, another publication, describes him as "a true star of Soviet music." However, his relationship with the Soviet regime was complex. As noted by the Saint Petersburg-based cultural website Sobaka, Shostakovich faced periods of public criticism from the government, though his musical talent eventually earned him recognition, titles, and awards. Shostakovich's life and work reflect the tensions of the era he lived in. Described as a "constrained virtuoso," he often found his compositions censored by the regime, yet he was also used as a symbol of Soviet cultural achievement. Meanwhile, the death of sculptor Zurab Tsereteli, known as a "monument of an era" in Russian media, was also reported. Another notable loss was artist Erik Boulatov, referred to as a "star of the Moscow conceptualism," who passed away at the age of 92. The legacy of the Decembrists, a group of Russian revolutionaries from 1825, continues to spark debate in modern Russia. Two hundred years after their failed uprising, they remain a symbol of conflicting narratives—seen by some as terrorists and by others as reformers. In recent years, the Kremlin has sought to downplay the darker aspects of Stalinist history, with some analysts suggesting that the Russian state avoids acknowledging past failures to maintain national unity and stability.