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Alyosha monument in Plovdiv safe in Bulgarian consul’s care — envoy

The security of the monument is ensured by round-the-clock video surveillance and controlled by Honorary Consul to Plovdiv Georgy Gergov, and the mayor’s office

MOSCOW, May 17. /TASS/. The Alyosha monument to Soviet soldiers in the Bulgarian city of Plovdiv is in the care of Russian consul Georgy Gergov and the mayor’s office, Russian Ambassador to Bulgaria Eleonora Mitrofanova said in an official letter seen by TASS.

"The security [of the monument - TASS] is ensured by round-the-clock video surveillance and controlled by Honorary Consul to Plovdiv [Georgy] Gergov, and the mayor’s office. <…> The overwhelming majority of the Bulgarian people treats with care World War II monuments and cemeteries," the Russian envoy said in reply to a letter from Daniil Bessarabov, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee for State Building and Legislation.

Sporadic calls to take down Soviet monuments and barbaric acts come from small groups of people with anti-Russian sentiments, and do not have broad support, Mitrofanova said in her reply.

She also pledged that the Russian embassy to Bulgaria would persevere with its efforts to protect Soviet memorials and duly keep them.

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