Ananova:

A heating company in Ukraine has cleared thousands of unpaid bills by using the image of Stalin to demand settlement.

Posters of the Soviet dictator have gone up all around the city of Donetsk with the words: "Comrades! This not the cinema, this is real life. Anyone who does not pay their heating bill will be punished."

Bosses from the state-owned Donetsk Heating Company said: "It was the nearest we could get to intimidating people without sending round the heavy mob, and it has worked."

Deputy-director Alexandra Semchenko added: "Most people associate Stalin with order and discipline. This campaign will force them to think about the consequences of being behind with their payments."

Stalin was blamed for the forced famine of 1932-33 in the Ukraine which killed almost one-third of the country's population following the mass collectivisation of farming in the Soviet Union.