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Russian Foreign Ministry waits for Poland’s response to protest against vandalism

On December 20 a vandal smashed several tombstones at a Soviet military cemetery in Kalisz, Wielkopolska Voivodship, the ministry's spokesperson recalls

MOSCOW, December 24. /TASS/. Moscow is waiting for Warsaw’s official response to the strong protest lodged over the latest act of anti-Russian vandalism in Poland, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said on Thursday.

Zakharova recalled that on December 20 a vandal smashed several tombstones at a Soviet military cemetery in Kalisz, Wielkopolska Voivodship. The 300 soldiers buried at the cemetery were fighting for Poland’s liberation from Nazism. Eleven graves were defiled. This is not the first such incident at the cemetery in Kalisz. Last time a 67-year-old man was detained there last February for destroying 18 tombstones.

"We regard such actions as a direct result of Poland’s official campaign for revising the role of the Soviet Union as the liberator in World War II," Zakharova said.

She called for remembering "not ideology but individual people."

"It is about the memory of specific people who have their lives for letting many Poles enjoy the happiness of being many decades after," Zakharova said.

"A strong protest has been lodged over yet another instance of anti-Russian vandalism," Zakharova said. "This protest has been convoyed to the Polish authorities. We are expecting a formal reaction and prompt action to restore the tombstones and prevent such barbaric incidents in the future."