Soviet leader left in sign of disgrace (6)
I believe the answer is:
stalin
'soviet leader' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'left in sign of disgrace' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'left' could be 'al' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'al' is found in the answer.
'in' is found in the answer.
The remaining letters 'st' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for stalin that I've seen before include "Soviet dictator, d. 1953" , "Russian WW two leader" , "Former USSR leader" , "Lenin's successor" , "Infamous Russian leader" .)