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Russia urges Ukraine and Poland to crack down on vandalism against WWII memorials

The Foreign Ministry has worked out a set of measures approved by the Russian president to counteract Poland’s hostile policy

Monument of Soviet troops at the Soviet Military Cemetery in Warsaw AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski

Monument of Soviet troops at the Soviet Military Cemetery in Warsaw

© AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski

MOSCOW, October 23. /TASS/.Russia has called upon the Ukrainian and Polish authorities to stamp out vandalism, and prevent damage to Soviet war monuments and military gravesites, Deputy Director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Consulate Department Alexey Utkin said on Monday during his speech at a meeting of the Federation Council’s Committee on Foreign Affairs.

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Monuments to Soviet troops in Poland

"The Russian Foreign Ministry together with the Defense Ministry and other interested agencies and organizations continue placing special attention on the issues of preserving and supporting Russian and Soviet military gravesites abroad that have a historical and commemorative significance to Russia," he noted.

"[We] have managed to make some headway in strengthening the international legal base for cooperation on military memorials recently," Utkin continued. "Meaningful consultations on military gravesites were carried out with the Chinese side, a project of full-fledged agreement on military burials was prepared for study by the partners and the issue of signing corresponding agreements with Bulgaria was set into motion."
The Russian Foreign Ministry "continues striving for an understanding with its Lithuanian and Estonian partners for the need to sign intergovernmental agreements in the military memorial sphere."

"We are closely monitoring the state of Soviet military gravesites on Ukraine’s soil and we call upon the Ukrainian authorities to clearly indicate the inadmissibility of the recent spate of vandalism, and demand corresponding measures be taken as soon as possible along with an objective investigation into all corresponding circumstances and punish those responsible," the diplomat stressed.

Read also

Polish lawmaker sees no reason to demolish Soviet Army monuments

Special attention is being paid to these matters in Poland, he said, due to the adoption of amendments to Poland’s law "on the prohibition of disseminating communism and totalitarianism."

"The Foreign Ministry has worked out a set of systemic measures approved by the Russian president to counteract Poland’s hostile policy in order to prevent further damage to our monuments and cemeteries on this country’s soil," Utkin noted.

"At present, the Foreign Ministry together with other agencies are going ahead with practical moves in this direction."

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