Crossword Genius

He helped rename modern St. Petersburg (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

lenin

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'he helped rename' is the definition.
The answer is a person as well as being a singular noun. This is suggested by the definition.

'modern st petersburg' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'modern' could be 'in' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'in' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'len' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for lenin that I've seen before include "Revolutionary leader" , "V. I. -, Soviet politician and revolutionary" , "Revolutionary man" , "Vladimir Ilich Ulyanov" , "Russian revolutionary" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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