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World War II monument damaged in east Ukraine's Kharkiv — mayor’s office

About 300 monuments to Lenin and about 70 monuments to other Soviet figures were pulled down in Ukraine in 2014

The Soldier Liberator monument in Kharkiv after it was desecrated for the first time (archive) Pavel Pakhomenko/TASS

The Soldier Liberator monument in Kharkiv after it was desecrated for the first time (archive)

© Pavel Pakhomenko/TASS

KIEV, January 19 /TASS/. Unidentified vandals have damaged a WWII monument in Kharkiv, eastern Ukraine, by knocking down The Soldier Liberator inscription from it, the press service of the Kharkiv City Council reported on Tuesday.

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"We believe that police should find and punish the vandals who mock at the memory of those who liberated Kharkiv [from fascists during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 - TASS]. The task of the city authorities is to restore the monument to its original look as soon as possible," Igor Terekhov, Kharkiv’s first deputy mayor, said.

The city police are trying to establish the circumstances of what happened.

It is not the first time the Soldier Liberator monument in Kharkiv was desecrated. On August 23, 2015 unidentified vandals drew the cross and the flag of Ukraine in the form of a heart on the monument.

Numerous cases of vandalism against Soviet WWII memorials have taken place in Ukraine in recent years. According to the Ukrainian Institute of Memory, about 300 monuments to Lenin and about 70 monuments to other Soviet figures were pulled down in Ukraine in 2014.

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