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Two electoral campaigns—Boris Yeltsin’s in 1996 and Vladimir Putin’s in 2012—are used to study the political instrumentalization of the Soviet past. Based on an analysis of candidates’ speeches and campaign materials, it is argued that changes in how the Soviet past is used in politics reflect a “memory turning point,” as images significantly different from the Soviet era emerge. Nonetheless, elements of continuity persist, in particular the condemnation of revolutions and the use of religious symbols.