Another revealing example of Soviet photo manipulation was in the case of Nikolai Yezhov, the head of the  NKVD,  seen on the left of  Stalin in the first photo,  but was edited out of the image after his execution in 1940, as shown in the second photo.

Soviet Photo Manipulation -- Stalin and Yezhov

On November 7, 1919, the first image was snapped of the Soviet leadership celebrating the second anniversary of the October Revolution.  After Trotsky and his allies fell from power, a number of figures were removed from the image, including Trotsky, originally standing on the left of Lenin.

Soviet Photo Manipulation -- Lenin and Trotsky

now a captain - photo taken later in the war