MOSCOW, November 24. /TASS/. The Kremlin has preferred to refrain from comment on the publication of lists of names of NKVD secret police staff dating back to the Stalinist purges of the second half of the 1930s on the website of the Memorial society.

"I’d leave this question unanswered," presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

"This is a very sensitive issue. Obviously, many people have different opinions. There are conflicting points of view and both sometimes have solid arguments to rely on," Peskov said adding that in this particular case he would prefer not to express any attitude.

The Memorial movement on Wednesday published on its website a directory containing the names of Soviet state security agencies’ staff dated 1935-1939. The directory contains data on nearly 40,000 NKVD secret police personnel who received new ranks in that period. The Memorial society says the directory is a "long stride towards deeper and more accurate understanding of the history of our country in the 1930s.".