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Czech Foreign Ministry condemns act of vandalism against monument to Soviet marshal

Overnight to Thursday, the vandals poured red paint on the plinth and the lower part of the monument to the Soviet marshal Konev depicted as standing full length

PRAGUE, August 24. /TASS/. The Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs regrets and condemns the act of vandalism committed against a monument dedicated to WWII Soviet Marshal Ivan Konev in Prague, but cannot influence the decision-making process regarding its future, the ministry has said.

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Vandals deface monument to WWII Soviet Marshal Konev in Czech Republic

"The monument is under the exclusive jurisdiction of municipal self-governance bodies of the Prague 6 district, as it had been installed on its territory," Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zuzana Stichova told reporters on Friday.

"This monument is not a war-time grave. It does not fall under the Russian-Czech agreement on mutual protection of military burial sites. It is also not subjected to other forms of protection stipulated by the international law," she continued.

Stichova said that the Foreign Ministry has deep respect for the memory of Red Army soldiers, who sacrificed their lives to liberate the Czech Republic (then a part of Czechoslovakia) from Nazi troops. However, all questions related to Marshal Konev’s monument must be referred to municipal authorities, she added.

According to the spokesperson, the ministry will soon prepare its response to the Russian Foreign Ministry’s note of protest, sent to the Czech embassy in Moscow on Friday.

Overnight to Thursday, the vandals poured red paint on the plinth and the lower part of the monument to the Soviet marshal depicted as standing full length. They also left insulting inscriptions on the monument. The authorities have pledged to promptly remove them and clean off the paint from the statue.

The monument to the Soviet commander was installed in Prague in 1980. The event was timed for the 35th anniversary of Prague’s liberation from the Nazis by the 1st Ukrainian Front commanded by Marshal Konev.

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