There’s a German movie called “Good Bye, Lenin!” where a woman wakes up from a heart attack caused coma after the fall of the DDR but is still in critical condition where any excitement could be her death. And her son, thinking that the collapse of the Eastern Bloc would be too much for her weak heart, decides to let her remain in the belief that the Soviet Union is still going strong by doing all kinds of elaborate tricks and lies.

Maybe they did the same thing with this guy to make him think that Lenin is still in power?