MOSCOW, July 11. /TASS/. The desecration of about 150 tombstones of Soviet soldiers at the memorial cemetery near The Netherlands’ Leusden was an attempt to erase the historical memory of the feat of the liberators of Europe, Olga Zanko, deputy head of the State Duma Committee for the Development of Civil Society, told TASS.
"That was a cynical attack against the sacred memory of the people who had sacrificed their lives to liberate Europe. That was a deliberate desecration and an attempt to chisel the names of the liberators off history," the senior Russian lawmaker said.
The parliamentarian said hopefully relevant Dutch agencies will conduct a comprehensive probe, identify those guilty, and hold them accountable. According to Zanko, similar actions should not be viewed as hooliganism, as she said the desecration of military cemeteries requires a strict legal response.
More than 150 Soviet soldiers' graves at the Soviet Field of Glory memorial complex near Leusden in Utrecht province, The Netherlands, have been vandalized, Remco Reiding, the head of the same-name foundation told TASS on Friday. Dutch Defense Minister Dilan Yesilgoz-Zegerius condemned the incident as unacceptable.