Stalin needed suppression, in 2009 Putin did not need it. As cracks starts to appear in Russia's society, we hear state television increasingly refer to Stalin in a positive way. The last years, access to Soviet historic places and sources have been closed down for researchers. History books are rewritten, militarism is reintroduced for children (already Kindergarten age).

Everything is a means to an end in a dictatorship, be it people, resources or truth. Times have changed, social contract has been broken. What lies ahead is repression, so Stalin needs a new dress.

So you are not wrong, but you should not mistake it as an ideological sincere stance.