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Moscow comments on placing WWII veterans on same footing as ‘Maidan’ participants

According to the ministry, the new Ukrainian legislation offends the memory of those who died in the Great Patriotic War

Russian Foreign Ministry Mikhail Japaridze/TASS

Russian Foreign Ministry

© Mikhail Japaridze/TASS

MOSCOW, November 17. /TASS/. Placing Great Patriotic War (WWII) veterans on the same footing as "Maidan" participants by Kiev under amendments to the law "On the status of veterans" offends the memory of the dead and living veterans, Russian Foreign Ministry said.

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

"We note with great regret that at Ukrainian Prime Minister Vladimir Groisman’s initiative, Verkhovna Rada approved amendments to the law "On the status of veterans," according to which any mentioning of the Great Patriotic War - which is now replaced by the term ‘Second World War’ - is removed from the legal text. This is an outrageous display of the policy conducted by Kiev’s authorities directed at forcible removal of the historical past of their own country," the Russian ministry stressed.

According to the ministry, the new Ukrainian legislation "places the Great Patriotic War veterans and heroes on the same footing as ‘maidan’ participants." "All of this is an offense to the memory of those who died in the Great Patriotic War defending their Motherland, their homes and families, as well as disrespect for the living veterans," the ministry noted.

"Forgetting that the Great Patriotic War was one of the most tragic, as well as one of the most heroic, parts in the history of many nations who lived in the Soviet Union, fought side by side and gave their lives for successors, means great disrespect for one’s ancestors and history," the ministry concluded.

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Foreign policy World War II History

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